File photo of an attack on a Karachi Imam bargah. PHOTO: ONLINE/FILE
This rise in violence came soon after Chief Army Staff General Kayani's visit to Karachi on Monday, during which he was briefed on the city's law and order situation and he voiced his appreciation of the Sindh Rangers's peace efforts.
ASWJ under attack
Three activists of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), Mufti Tariq, Mohammad Jan and Raza Gul and three supporters of the ASWJ Ayaz, Yar Mohammad and Ramzan were gunned down separately in Defence, Mehmoodabad and Korangi areas.
Deceased Mufti Tariq was a religious scholar, while Mohammad Jan was the Moazzin at the Muqaddas Masjid near Kala Pul. Raza Gul was a senior activist of the ASWJ.
Mufti Tariq and Yar Mohammad were gunned down in the Mehmoodabad locality, Raza Gul was shot dead in Korangi as were Ramzan and Ayaz, while Mohammad Jan was gunned down in Defence.
MQM worker killed
Besides these killings, a worker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Nadeem was killed and another Farhan was wounded in Orangi Town.
Separately, 28-year-old Ahsan was killed in Ittehad Town, a young man was found dead from Ali Mohammad Mohalla in Lyari, the bodies of a woman and her daughter were found from their house in Sohrab Goth locality.
Additionally, the bodies of a husband and a wife were found from an underground water tank inside their house in Orangi Town, while the two injured persons who were wounded in a firing incident at a tailor shop on Monday at Zeenat Square in Sharifabad succumbed to their injuries.
'Conspiracy afoot'
Karachi Police Chief Shahid Hayat told the media that those who carried out targeted attacks today have been identified and would be arrested.
He said a conspiracy was afoot to stir sectarian conflict in the city.
Sectarian strife
The city witnessed similar bloodshed yesterday when four people of the Shia community were killed. These attacks occurred just days before the commencement of Muharram.
A plastic surgeon was gunned down near Liberty Chowk, Tariq Road, within the limits of Ferozabad police station, while a medical technician at the Leprosy Hospital in Manghopir was shot dead in Manghopir’s Garam Chashma area.
A tailor, belonging to the Shia community, was gunned down, along with his Sunni friend when armed motorcyclists opened fire at his shop in Zeenat Square in FC Area.
Muhammad Shan, 32, was gunned down near Patel Hospital in Gulshan-e-Iqbal when he was taking the zuljinah [horse] for ziarat.
Karachi, a city of 18 million people which contributes a major portion of Pakistan’s GDP, is rife with murder and kidnappings and has been plagued for years by ethnic, sectarian and political violence.
COMMENTS (43)
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@Rahim Gul: Your city probably Bahawalpur or Multan but definitely south Punjab
Pakistan Interior Minister said 75 insurgents group's largest have 180 to 200 fighters its means total max 15000 extremist Pak Army has 1000000 soldiers. Only 15000 men are un controllable. Are you serious minister?
@Jibran: No religion on earth authorises the killing of innocents. In Islam you cannot kill a woman, child, elderly, and the sick and poor in whatever circumstances, there killing is unjustifiable and this includes non-Muslims, you cannot kill humanity however there are circumstances (in return for murder BEING PROVED or prescribed punishment for whatever crime only for guilty parties), and you cannot kill innocents at Jihad, war, battles, etc. No religion allows the killing of innocents. For me, Islam is my answer, for you, it may not be but don't force me to share your views same way I don't force anyone to share mine (there is no compulsion in religion). Islam is for peace and does not mandate killing of innocents, well Muslims? The same cant be said but I'm not going to argue with people who arguably don't want to listen to what I have to say.
@Rahim Gul: You don't need to move closer to a religion. You need to move away from it, and not get overwhelmed by it's burden to stop hating people of other faith. Religion in itself breeds hatred especially the one which claims itself to be the most peaceful and in the same stroke mandates the killing of the innocents.
@Syed: I never followed their hateful idealogies, because hating shias was taught to me as being natural. As a child I was told to hate Shias and same with my mother and siblings and probably thousands if not millions of others in Punjab, I'm not going to name my city, were 'told' the same. I'm saying that my stance and everything changed after going to an Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamah mosque that are Syeds (Ahlubayt) and follow Naqshbandi Sunni Sufism, Alhamdulillah theyve made the best of me and these type of people are in small numbers, may Allah bless them. They taught me that we can never judge other Muslims on their beliefs, and hating Shias is wrong, let alone killing. My perception or maybe the state of mind I had about them changed instantly. I no longer hate Shias and I have nothing against them. I already had nothing against other religions and sects but I was always told that Shias were murderers of Holy people and Kafirs, may Allah SWT forgive me. I advise everyone not to judge anyone or have hatred towards someone without studying and knowing and understanding everything.....this may be the cause of many things happening in our society. Like my Mamu says, as a religious devout Muslim man, Pakistanis are 'jahil' when it comes to religion....
@US CENTCOM:, Ali Khan
Can't the US instead of kow-towing to the a radical fundamentalist Saudi Wahhabi regime for its own dogmatic self interests, instead of looking away and undermining itself security wise, exert a little pressure to rein in the Saudi's reckless foreign policy of financing and exporting such a hateful ideology in Pak?
Ultimately the faults and culpabilities of such religo-political Wahhabi/Salafi/Deoband/Sunni extremist hatred and violence that got cultivated lie with the Pak state and citizens, but I would hope the international community could do its part in taking sectarianism and such ideologies seriously and try to lessen it, as they're indeed tied to global terrorism and the WoT efforts overall.
@shiasaretruemuslims: "Shias will not sit idle this time. Unite with other communities who are also persecuted in Pakistan."
The same ones that you were busy persecuting until your own group got affected? If you do not like being labelled non-Musim , how do you think Ahmadis felt?
BArelvi Sunnis- writing is on the wall. Just as today people are calling Shias non-Muslim, some day it could be your turn.
@raw is war: Mr.Kayani was just now congratulating rangers fr stopping the Karachi violence….. He congratulated them for surviving in Karachi and not for maintaining law and order.
@Shiraz Thats the problem with we Muslims. We ourselves are to blame to instigate sectarism. Who has the right to say he is a superior Muslim? Just be a good Muslim.
India is about to step on Mars and the pakkies are ..................... well you all know. Nothing but sadness and sharmindagi
There are so many enemies of Pakistan that we can not imagine. Our enemies kill few shias on one hand and then kill few sunnis to give impression to everyone than there is shia Vs sunni problem in this country. In reality there is none. The blood of shias is as sacred and precious as sunnis.
We people of Pakistan are suffering from leadership crisis. Out leadership has never taken any decision to protect the rights of people and make peace in the country.Yet they have only plundered the people.
We need to understand and act responsibly to protect our true and sincere leadership such as Imran Khan.
It is being alleged on Pak media that Taliban stationed in Karachi are being paid by both sides to carry out killings of the respective community.
@The Only Normal Person Here.: If you want God to help the city, then you should know God has gifted you the power to stand up and straighten this mess yourself. Go out and support the Shias during Moharram, give them the security and support as a fellow citizen, and provide them the protection like the Muslims did for the Christians during Sunday prayers in Lahore/Islamabad. Will you do that? If you can't, then consider God has given up on humanity and this country's citizens.
How you can control this when every terrorist living close to Army. First OBL now HM also been killed by drone just 1 Km from Army base camp. Check Yahoo news
@Rahim Gul. The group called ASWJ is another name for Sipah e Sahaba. Since Sipah Sahaba was banned, they came up with this new name but its the same people. They preach hatred and have killed thousands of Shias all across Pakistan. I am glad for you that you no longer follow their hateful ideologies that are against Islam.
@Rahim Gul:
I know, and it's unfortunate that an militant organization is using the name of a sect to legitimize their hate. I recognize the difference between the sect and the group, and I hope that the group will no longer be allowed to preach hate and sully the name of a peaceful sect. You may also note that I referred to the group by their original name to clarify my stance.
@Mj: Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamah is a sect and many of its leaders are pro-peace and teach tolerance and respect. I belong to an Ahlubayt Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamah mosque which is also Naqshbandi Sufism and before I was taught to hate Shias in Punjab, well it was indoctrined to me like it was to my mother but this mosque completely changed me and I have no hate for a Shia. Now these people are using this name for hateful violence, it's disgusting. Please call them Sipah-e-Sahaba.
ASWJ terrorist sympathizers getting what they deserve.
@ Hasan...Shahid Hayat.....hate urdu speaking ,he belongs to Mesud tribe ...his main target is to arrest innocent MQM workers tortured them get the confessional statement, according to his liking and PPP is playing political game depriving the rights of urdu speaking by curving new district in Karachi and Hyderabad creating more division between urban and rural...
6 faithless people ( of course Sunnis ) killed and someone chanting here Shia Genocide and people keep on liking that comment. WTH is this, you hypocrites
typical day in pakistan where people trying to out-muslim each other. what a sad pathetic country.
thank god i am born in this side of the border.
Why no one is terming these killings as Sunni genocide??? Lets not have double standards. Any one who is killed is human and has family and friends.
In the name of cleanup; Rangers is busy arresting innocent MQM workers, while known terrorists and banned outfits have been given a clear passage with license to kill.
I dully questions Mr Shahid Hyatt, if Karachi operation is being conducted with huge success; then why do we see increased number of target/sectarian killing? Why?
I do not condone violence of any kind, but it's interesting to note that Shia casualties are indiscriminate and the victims are mostly well educated people with no apparent links to militancy, while the retaliatory attacks target ASWJ (ex-Sipah-e-Sahaba, a banned terrorist organization.)
when any operation become politicalized,....the result will be like above....Rangers and Police are afraid to do proper operation in Lyari and areas control by Talibans ,these killing will continue...
@Aysha M You are absolutely right. Even now the political elite whether the so called liberal or right wing and the clergy of all Muslim Sects are serious to make collective efforts for changing the mindset of intolerance in our society. Our society was fairly moderate and tolerant from the time of Jinnah to Ayub Khan.
@Kublai: Fully agree with you. Civilian democracy is a FAILURE IN PAKISTAN. It's high time we started taking economic, education, punitive action measures for at least 10 years and then talk of this vile word, d-e-m-o-c-r-a-c-y. Salams
Merchants of hatred and death fell to their own medicine. ISI, police, army, rangers, FC! Please do this to these monsters throughout Pakistan, including north waziristan.
@shiasaretruemuslims, Just the fact that you want to force a point by choosing such a name,shows that you yourself and the general population is not sure, whether your beliefs are right or wrong.
First and foremost, our condolences go out to the victims’ families. Too many people have lost their lives to indiscriminate killings in the city, and the need of the hour is to send a stern message to the criminals. The law and order must preside in order to restore peace in the city. We stand by the government of Pakistan and fully support their efforts to negate the threat of violence. We hope to see peace prevail throughout the city. It is simply in our best interest to see a safe and secure Pakistan. Our forces are fighting the terrorists on both sides of the border, and we hope to remain unified in regards to our peace objectives in the region.
Ali Khan DET, United States Central Command
5 ASWJ members have been killed today morning. So I guess scores have been settled.
Rangers are part of problem not solution- they will keep KHI on its toes for extension of their stay, this is what they have been doing for about three decades now.
@Shahid:
When someone gets killed on the basis of his sect then what's wrong if ET is mentioning his sect ?
Not even one incident any thing positive about karachi for past several years.The city no longer called as a financial capital instead crime capital of pakistan.
The Shia genocide is in full swing. and none of these heinous,corrupt,politicians,big and small will do anything or say any thing.
Et why are you labelling the deceased as Sunnis and Shias?
Inna Lillahe Wa Inna Ilaihe Rajeoon. Ameen. This is a manifestation of how violent our one track mind has become. Small wonder we are scorned and laughed at by the world. Salams
Mr.Kayani was just now congratulating rangers fr stopping the Karachi violence.....