The terrorists blew themselves up close to a popular restaurant, near Karachi's popular Seaview beach yesterday, after police chased their Suzuki van and there was an exchange of fire.

"The police have succeeded in foiling what was an apparent terrorist attack these men were planning in the city.

"We salute the bravery of the policemen, particularly the two officers who lost their lives today in the course of duty," Rehman Malik, interior minister, told the media after the incident.

The inspector general of police of Sindh province, Mushtaq Shah said initial investigation confirmed that the police had signaled the Suzuki van to stop near Seaview, which is busy and heavily populated during late evenings.

"When they didn't stop the police gave chase and these terrorists resorted to firing due to which two officers sustained bullet wounds," he said.

Shah said the four suspected terrorists apparently sensing they were going to be captured alive and had no escape route blew up the Suzuki van they were riding in and were killed on the spot.

"We have found suicide vest jackets with explosives weighting around 10 kilogram, night vision glasses, pen bombs, five klashinikovs, mobile phones, burqas and maps which suggest these people were planning a terrorist attack," Shah said.

He said one of the killed terrorists was wearing a woman's wig.
"We have recovered the registration book of the car and it is registered to a resident of new Karachi and we have also found other clues which will help us unravel what these terrorists were planning," he said.

"I think these brave policemen have managed to avert a major terrorist incident in Karachi.

"It is clear terrorists are still out to disturb the peace of our city," Malik said.
The bombers may have been planning to target a hotel or a 'mela' (fair) to be held in the area, officials said.

TV news channels said intelligence agencies had warned of a possible attack with an explosives-laden vehicle in Karachi.

This is the second suicide blast in the same area in Karachi. On September 19, terrorists rammed an explosive-laden truck into the residence of a senior police official of the anti-terrorism wing, killing eight people.