11 women stabbed in Karachi

Pakistan police announced a reward of nearly $5,000 yesterday for information that could help them nab a serial attacker who has stabbed 11 women so far in the port megacity of Karachi.

The attacks began late last month when a man on a motorcycle began sporadically wounding women walking on streets in the eastern part of the sprawling city.

They escalated late Wednesday when the attacker targeted five women in different parts of the neighbourhood, bringing the total number of women assaulted to 11 and alarming authorities.

CCTV footage of one attack shows the man stabbing a burqa-clad woman from behind and then fleeing, police said.

"It is the pattern that he attacks on the women from rear with some sharp pointed object... We have arrested at least eight individuals having similarities with the appearance of the attacker," Samiullah Soomro, a senior police officer, told AFP.