KARACHI: On the fifth day of the Lyari operation, the Sindh government invited all gangs involved in the Lyari violence to the table for negotiations if they agreed to surrender and lay down arms.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri said that the provincial government was willing to offer some ‘concession’ to the warring gangs of Lyari if they surrendered.
The operation has claimed 33 lives so far, including six policemen. Over 60 people have been injured as a result of the operation.
A police official deployed at Cheel Chowk was killed during a rocket attack last night. In a separate attack, the upper floor of Al Majeed Hotel in Lea Market was hit by a rocket, which resulted in the injury of 10 people. The injured were shifted to Civil hospital.
Police continued to face resistance last night, as miscreants continued with rocket and grenade attacks in the Nawa Lane and Cheel Chowk areas.
The police advanced in to the areas of Baghdadi Telephone exchange, Lea Market, Saifi Lane, and Purana Dhobi Ghat, but were met with staunch resistance and were unable to proceed further.
Different areas of Lyari, including Nawa Lane, Kalakot, Ghareeb Shah Road and Juman Shah have been deprived of electricity and water since the past four days.
Mobile phone jammers have also been installed in the Lyari area.
Anti-Lyari operation protests at Baloch Colony
Protesting the Lyari operation, hundreds of demonstrators carrying sticks blocked traffic going from Shaheed-e-Millat to Korangi Road while pelting cars and transportation vehicles with stones, Express News reported.
The protesters, consisting of children, women and men, blocked the Baloch Colony flyover and forced shops in Mehmoodabad area to close down.
The police blocked the roads to stop more cars from entering the area, as the protesters had starting setting them on fire. The protesters also pelted the police with stones.
Sources said that these protests have been going on for a few days causing stoppage of traffic for hours.
COMMENTS (28)
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Now i began to feel that operation in Lyari is another brainchild from Mr.Zardari. just think about it , Lyari had very complex and narrow structure , Cheel chowk is surrounded by apartment buildings, from the top of those buildings uncountable rockets have been fired and grenades as well but see the causalities of Police is 6 so far and around 7 terrorist have been shot. where is the rest of the damage?? why SInd Govt who always depend on FC is now taking it from Police only?? ..why not Rangers are used ?? from 5 day continue battle Police didn't have recovered a single lane from terrorist ??
@MRF On older times the government would have then started collective punishment
Wrong @T:
@Uza Syed: People in lyari support or have sympathies for Uzair Baloch and his militants .. that is the sole reason why police has failed to establish a foothold in the town .. the same support of people saved the criminals of MQM from complete annihilation at the hands of law enforcement agencies during 1992-96 .. So there is no other solution but to go for negotiations ..
What wrong with you people? On another post you guys appreciate the operation and on this one blast it .
Olive branch to gangsters-----why----what this nonsense? Haven't we learnt even now that any such action on the part of the State and its organs is like abdicating its writ and surrendering to the gangsters, criminals and terrorists. You just can't let this happen. State must use all its might and destroy each and every pocket of criminal gangs and thugs, every terrorist must be made to surrender or be erradicated, destroyed completely. Better a few of them now than many many more at some later stage.
Government should call in the drones to get rid of the gangs from this area.
I think the lyari operation is more to do with taking out the Baloch`s.
YOU DO NOT NEGOTIATE WITH GANGS ...sorry, caps are annoying, but really, stop being stupid.
PPP is killing of it's opponents who quit PPP. Typical practice of feudal politics.
This operation is being carried out for getting the favor from MQM for the emerging requirement for the election of new PM in the parliament. The problem lies at the heart of karachi. According to the USA peace report as mentioned by Najam Sethi in his program clearly mentioned that MQM has 15,000 armed members can destroy the peace of karachi in short notice and these people has shown their muscles couple of times. I personally read the names of MQM & ANP in the publications of Human Rights watch world wide about the sheer disregard of human lives in settling the political score. So in this situation if somebody thinks that by doing this kind of operation will solve the law and order problem of karachi, they are severely mistaken.
Ill conceived and badly prepared operation. Losing six police personnel including SHO in five days shows what kind of force is needed. As it is we have shortage of policemen and especially trained police officers in Karachi. This operation should be handled by elite forces of the Pakistan army /Navy.It should be immediately handled by the said forces.
Lyari operation looks like an useless act of mindless administration. 33 lives are lost in this operation of stupid planners. Five day battle among the so called criminals and law personnel. Beside the loss of precious lives, millions of national money is fired in air by police as seen in video footage that police persons are firing the bullets in air in a non serious style. And what a committed criminals who are giving remarkable resistance to police... they are criminals or soldiers of a nation teaching lessons to payed employees of an agency. And the last thing the administration responsible of Lyari operation is ready to repeat such type of operations in other areas, on complains of criminal activities......???? for example in MQM or ANP mojority areas...
@ibrar khan: Their are snipers in the apartments's roof tops and in thin streets.If police bring the baktar band (humvees), they get rockets fired at it. Finally, police is trying to get in by using tanks who could sustain rocket attack. We should all be thankful to Zulfiqar Mirza et al to arm up liyari. The decision is badly backfired when gang members are used to spread PPP to " MQM's areas "
Is the picture above from an Urdu movie from India?
The police should use helicopters to land commandos on the bldgs from where firing is done.also snipers would be helpfull.. People of Lyari will only breath freedom when these gangsters are eliminated and no favoritism please.Total elimination of all gangs are needed.
why are all these police men firing in the air? for screen space?
it is not justifible to me that how these gangsters got the more advanced weapons than that of the sindh police.
People of Lyari were in desperate need of this operation against the criminals in Lyari. People of Lyari protesting against this operation are forced by the criminals to protest in groups, to save the lives of their loved ones like their children, heads of their families and females who are made hostages by the criminals in Lyari. This information is valid and genuine as told by many of my relatives who live in Lyari since last few decades. All the protesters, protesting in other areas are also forced to protest the same way.
Its really sad to see whats going on in Lyari. May Allah keep them safe and sound.
People of Pakistan are responsible for the current status of country’s affairs. They only elect corrupt, self serving people to the assemblies and then cry foul.
They have to wake up and use their votes to elect clean, capable and country loving people to the assemblies, otherwise their fate will not change.
Remember Allah does not change the condition of a people unless people themselves try to change their fate.
Whether common & the innocent people of Lyari are using latest weapons against the police? If yes than everyone in Pakistan has to right to have RPG, to defend oneself from the police.
I think things like integrity, righteousness, and good repute should never be labeled as saleable at any cost even if it is Rs. ‘1’.
This isn't an operation against crime,this is just a changing of the gang incharge of lyari. The Arshad pappu group is being given control of lyari by killing off the people's aman commitee. The gang members Arshad pappu have the full support of the police as has been reported by media people.This isn't an action against criminals but an action to place a favourite gang into total control of lyari.
The people of lyari have all been screaming against their elected MNA and MPA's over the last week,blaming them for unleashing this severe operation on lyari. The people are expressing their severe anger at ppp,saying that we won't vote for ppp ever again & that the ppp will not win a seat from lyari again. The ppp should stop this operation immediately,they are putting in pain the very people who were their biggest supporters.
The people of lyari are being made to suffer because of the power politics of karachi. The aman comitee people had started spreading their influence into the areas under the control of other parties and were becoming a threat to their business,so the state police is now being used to kill off the aman comitee people. Why are the police high officials saying on media that we won't use rangers? Why is the government keeping away the rangers from the operation in lyari? What don't they want the Rangers to see about this operation?