Sindh

Three killed in Karachi violence

Three people have been killed and 30 injured during the last 24 hours of violence in Karachi.

Express/faraz Khan January 09, 2011

KARACHI: Three people have been killed and 30 injured during the last 24 hours of violence in Karachi.

Two people lost their lives overnight when unidentified men opened fire in Liari Kalri and Liaqat Abad areas. Express News Cameraman Imran Ali who was injured due to fuel tank blast is in critical condition.

Updated from the print edition below.

Target killing: MQM activist gunned down, riots disrupt city life

A worker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was gunned down in PIB Colony on Saturday.

In the resulting violence, at least three buses and a motorcycle were torched, while a dozen people were injured. The firing also caused an explosion in the petrol tank of a passenger bus and caused severe injuries to Express News cameraman and a policeman.

The victim, 38-year-old Yawar Abbas, son of Sardar Ali Jafferi advocate, was killed around 1:20 pm.

Witnesses said that Abbas was shot when he was sitting with his friend at a spare parts shop on Marton Road that falls within Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town. The police and ambulances also reached the site soon after the incident and took the victim to a private hospital but he died on the way. Later, his body was taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for an autopsy. Abbas was buried at Bagh-e-Hyderi in Mewa Shah Graveyard.

Abbas, the only brother of four sisters, lost his father to target killings around seven years ago. MQM’s Haider Abbas Rizvi told The Express Tribune that the deceased was a former unit incharge of the party and currently associated with MQM Unit 57 as a senior worker. He added that he does not want to give additional comments on the killing and will address all questions at the party’s news conference today (Sunday).

Meanwhile, Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza ordered law enforcement agencies to take strict action against the elements behind the violence.

“First, we are busy controlling the law and order situation. We will take action later,” said DIG Commandant east zone Shoukat.

Ten minutes after this incident, angry protesters gathered on the road and started pelting passing vehicles with stones. They also torched several vehicles.

A witness recalled that unidentified men first evacuated the bus and then torched it. The worst affected areas were Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town and several parts of Nazimabad.

The law and order situation worsened rapidly and caused severe traffic jams in the city. Sharae Pakistan was blocked for several hours.

In Gulistan-e-Jauhar, unidentified people torched a passenger coach near Jauhar Morr and two people were injured in firing. Various parts of the Nazimabad town were also badly affected during the riots where commercial life was suspended after aerial firing.

A man identified as Naeem was injured in firing near Hyderi shopping centre. Shahzad, son of Ghulam Muhammad, was injured in firing in Shah Faisal Colony while Zafar was injured in firing in Aziz Bhatti.

BDS defuses bomb planted on motorcycle

The Bomb Disposal Squad defused a bomb carrying five kilograms of explosive on a motorcycle in Mawach Goth within the jurisdiction of Saeedabad police station on Saturday.

Police officials said the culprits planted the explosives in the battery socket of the motorcycle (BD-1868). The wires were connected with the ignition and may have exploded if the motorcycle was switched on.

“Someone called me and told about a suspicious motorcycle parked near the Mawach Goth bus stop number 2,” said SHO Jan Mohammad.

FIR No. 19/11 has been registered and further investigation is in progress to probe the matter, the officer said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2011.

COMMENTS (2)

Naila Javed | 13 years ago | Reply MQM has always been a very difficult ally, even under Musharraf, when it enjoyed considerable influence in Sindh and at the Centre. In line with late Benazir Bhutto’s legacy of reconciliation with all political stakeholders, the PPP sagaciously included the MQM in the coalition government in Sindh, when it did not need its support to form the government, and at the Centre. This also accrued to the advantage of avoiding unnecessary tensions that were sure to confront the government had MQM been kept outside the coalition, given its considerable support base in urban Sindh and hold over the local government in Karachi. Now it seems that the MQM is headed down the path of brinkmanship, which it has always used successfully to extort favourable terms for an exclusive control over areas under its control, which appears jeopardized by the unraveling of Musharraf’s local bodies system. Frictions between the two parties persist because MQM has not been averse to use illegal means to maintain its control. Even now, its political assertiveness at the expense of all other parties and ethnic groups is the basis of the tensions in Karachi. Since arms are readily available, there are often attempts to resolve political conflict through the barrel of a gun. Target killings are part of such attempts. Parochial interests notwithstanding, can we afford to create a fresh front in Karachi when the government is already grappling with a serious security threat in the rest of the country?

salahudddin | 13 years ago | Reply According to HRCP , from 2009 to 2010 , highest numbers of political parties belongs to MQM . HRCP is a neutral & reliable source & this fresh incident does prove that innocent MQM workers are being slaghtered in their home town , will Zulfira mirza take notice of MQM workers target killings ?

Replying to X