Mounting body count: Malik points to Taliban presence in the city

Govt calls in 1,000 extra policemen from other parts of Sindh as MQM marks a day of mourning.

KARACHI:

Citing intelligence sources, Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik claimed that the Taliban were at least partially responsible for the violence in Karachi which has thus far claimed over 100 lives over a span of four days.

“The [Taliban] had evacuated some places during the security forces’ operation against them, but police and law enforcement agencies are pursuing them,” claimed the minister, stating that there was a network of the Taliban that was active in the northern part of Karachi and involved in acts of militancy across the country’s largest city.

The violence, however, kept up its intensity on the fourth day, despite the fact that fewer people left their homes. In the worst incident, gunmen opened fire on two buses, killing 12 people, including a six-year-old girl overnight, a security official said.

Anwer Kazmi of the Edhi Foundation, said it was difficult to deliver food and water because of incessant gunfire. “Seven of our ambulances have been fired on so far and one of our volunteers has been shot and injured,” he said.

Residents in troubled neighbourhoods spoke of their fear, saying they were running out of supplies and could do little but cower at home.

“The walls of my house are riddled with bullets. Many of our household items have been destroyed. Most of the time we duck inside the house to save ourselves from frequent volleys of bullets,” said Akber Khan from Orangi.

“We are so afraid. We haven’t slept for nights. One day I was on my balcony, when some bullets were fired at our house, Allah saved me. I haven’t been on the balcony since,” said third-grade student Shaista Ahmed, eight. Meanwhile, the government continued to try to crack down on the violence that saw at least another 30 people killed in the fourth straight of bloodshed. Police claimed to have arrested at least 133 people, though officials declined to identify the men or even their political affiliations.

Capital City Police Officer Saud Mirza told The Express Tribune said that as many as 1,000 policemen from other parts of Sindh had also been called in to help control the law and order situation in the city. A Rangers spokesman said that the Rangers’ jurisdiction had been extended to the affected areas of the city.

However, even as the government made all of these announcement, several law enforcement officials admitted that controlling the violence would require tools that they simply did not have. While they did not say so, the situation they described sounded less like a law enforcement operation and more like urban warfare.

For instance, Saud Mirza conceded that the police was unable to enter the most violent areas of Orangi – a neighbourhood in northwestern Karachi that has thus far been the epicentre of the bloodshed – because the militants there were well-armed and the police did not have enough armoured personnel carriers (APCs) to go in and be able to control the situation.

The streets of the financial hub of the country, meanwhile, appeared to be almost completely deserted as the MQM called for a ‘day of mourning’ to mark the killing of the victims of the previous three days of violence. Karachi’s transportation union also declared a strike, effectively paralysing the city.

At least 490 people were killed in targeted killings in the first six months of 2011, compared to 748 in 2010 and 272 in 2009.

(With additional reporting from AFP)

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