Death toll rises as one more killed in Karachi

At least 31 more people were killed on Wednesday as the city remained caught up in a vicious cycle of violence.

One person was killed in a firing incident in the Ayub Goth of New Karachi on Thursday.

Updated from print edition (below)

Karachi caught up in vicious cycle of violence

At least 31 more people were killed in Karachi on Wednesday as the city remained caught up in a vicious cycle of violence since the assassination of MQM lawmaker Raza Haider on Monday. According to an unofficial tally, at least 86 people have been killed in unabated rioting in the last three days.

The killing spree continued despite heavy deployment of police and paramilitary rangers in the most vulnerable neighbourhoods of the city, pointing to the government’s inability to check the bloodbath in the commercial hub of the country.

Though a semblance of normalcy returned to the city on Wednesday morning when some petrol pumps and educational institutions reopened, but at dusk sporadic violence erupted in some neighbourhoods of the city. Petrol pumps were shut immediately when news of trouble spread. As night fell, violence escalated, with reports of gunshots and rioting in several areas. Orangi and Baldia towns were the worst affected localities where most of the killings were reported on Monday. In one brazen attack, a man was abducted and forced to identify his home. The abductors then barged into his house and opened random fire, killing three sleeping persons on the spot. Later, the abductee was also shot dead.

Another incident, two men riding a motorbike hurled a hand grenade in a mosque in the North Nazimabad neighbourhood of the city. The attack took place at a time when people had gathered for Isha prayers.  Police say the mosque, Jamia Shamsul Ulum Suroor, is under the supervision of the Sunni Tehreek. Five people were wounded in the attack.

Separately, arsonists burnt down some shops in the Saddar and Metroville areas. And in Mujeeb Goth and Orangi Town, gunmen opened indiscriminate fire, injuring 14 people, among them women and children.
Meanwhile, police have releases sketches of two men allegedly involved in the killing of MQM MPA Raza Haider. The sketches have been made with the help of eyewitnesses. The city police held out any assurance that they would track down the killers.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2010.