KARACHI - Taliban bomb on Wednesday killed 9 people and critically wounded several others, including a senior judge, in the business capital Karachi. Justice Maqbool Baqir, a senior judge of Sindh High Court who has previously worked on a series of terrorism cases as an Anti-Terrorism Court judge, was targeted by a bomb that killed at least nine people on a busy street during the morning rush hour.According to police officials, the six-kilogram bomb was planted in a motorbike and detonated by remote control at Burns Road area in the vicinity of Sindh secretariat, the provincial government headquarters.The bomb exploded as Baqir drove past with his security detail near the intersection of Urdu Bazaar Road and Court Road leading to Sindh High Court. At least nine people, including eight members of the judge’s security convoy, were killed and 14 other people wounded.“The dead include six police officers, two (paramilitary) Rangers and the judge’s driver,” police official Ameer Sheikh told AFP. A car, police van and a bike were destroyed in the explosion. The blast also caused damage to nearby buildings.The injured were shifted to Civil Hospital for treatment. Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon told reporters that Justice Baqar was being treated at a private hospital and his condition was stable.Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack. “We claim responsibility for the attack on the judge because he used to give verdicts against Islam and Muslims,” Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP from an undisclosed location. President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, SHC Chief Justice Musheer Alam and leaders of different political parties strongly condemned the Karachi blast and expressed sympathies with the bereaved families. President and PM directed the authorities concerned to ensure that best medical assistance is provided to the injured. Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah also visited Justice Baqar and later said his condition was satisfactory as he also spoke to him.Justice Baqar, a Shia by belief, has a reputation for honesty and he has also served as a judge in special anti-terrorism courts set up in Pakistan to hand down quick judgments in terror cases. He had been threatened by militants, including the Taliban and hardline Sunni Muslim sectarian outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which has claimed a series of devastating bomb attacks on Shias.Karachi, a city of 18 million people, contributes 42 percent of Pakistan’s GDP but is rife with murder and kidnappings and has been plagued for years by ethnic, sectarian and political violence. Last year around 2,000 people were killed in violence linked to ethnic and political tensions, its deadliest toll in two decades.