SEVEN DIE AS GUNMEN ATTACK STOCK EXCHANGE

KARACHI, PAKISTAN A group armed with guns and grenades attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange in the city of Karachi on Monday in a bid to take hostages, killing two guards and a policeman before security forces killed all four attackers, security officials said.

Separatist insurgents from the troubled province of Balochistan claimed responsibility, a senior counter-terrorism official, Raja Umar Khattab, told Reuters.

The Baloch Liberation Army had claimed the attack on Twitter but Reuters could not verify the account.

The police chief of Karachi, Ghulam Nabi Memon, told Reuters the gunmen attacked with grenades and guns after pulling up in a car.

Two guards and a policeman were killed and seven people were wounded.