An old saying which is oft repeated even to this day in this agrarian society is what you reap is what you sow. Three human bombs exploded, when their van was intercepted by police Wednesday in the southern Pakistan port city of Karachi, also killing two policemen, the home minister said. The three terrorists were travelling in the explosives-laden van when police asked them to stop at about 10pm. The attack is considered very serious as it took place in defence area. Many key offices of Army, Navy and Air Force are situated in and around the blast site.

`The men were killed when they detonated the explosives in the van’, superintendent of police Tariq Dharejo told the media. He added `Police tried to stop the vehicle and they blew themselves up. The three men were killed and we have found weapons at the spot... One of the men was wearing a (suicide) vest’.

The bombers may have been planning to target a hotel or a 'mela' (fair) to be held in the area. The wig and burqa found in the van apparently gave rise to speculation that a woman was present in the van with the terrorists. This is the second blast in the last two months at the same area, earlier September 19, terrorists rammed an explosive-laden truck into the residence of a senior police official of the anti-terrorism wing, killing eight people.

Terrorism in Pakistan has become a major and highly destructive phenomenon in recent years. The annual death toll from terrorist attacks has risen from 164 in 2003 to 3318 in 2009, with a total of 35,000 Pakistanis killed as of 2010. According to the government of Pakistan, the direct and indirect economic costs of terrorism from 2000-2010 total $68 billion. President Asif Ali Zardari, along with former President ex-Pakistan Army head Pervez Musharraf, have admitted that terrorist outfits were "deliberately created and nurtured" by past governments "as a policy to achieve some short-term tactical objectives".