A man was killed while his children sustained injuries when a stray rocket struck his house in the Lea Market area of Lyari. A schoolteacher, identified as Iftikhar, was shot dead in an earlier firing incident in the Baldia town area of Lyari.
In a separate incident, a 50-year-old man died and two others were injured in a hand grenade attack within the limits of Eidgah police station.
Violence erupted in Lyari this morning as protestors burnt tyres and forced owners to shut down shops to protest against raids and operations by law enforcement agencies.
Speaking at a press conference, SSP Chaudhry Aslam said that in order to prevent collateral damage, the police were engaged in a targeted operation in the area.
Explaining the ongoing violence in Lyari, Aslam said that the security personnel have managed to arrest area's main criminals and that the remaining culprits are now reacting in a violent manner to prevent further arrests.
When questioned about the performance of rangers, the SSP stated that the police and rangers were working in collaboration to bring the situation back to normalcy.
Aslam also said that the criminals in the area are well armed and have rocket launchers and grenades. However, he assured they will soon be arrested.
Express News reported that police forces arrived in the area after the situation worsened, however they backed off and were unable to go further inside when assailants fired grenades and rockets at them in the Lea Market area.
According to sources, three other people have been killed in the city since last night.
The residents of Lyari are protesting against police operations in the area. According to them, law enforcement agencies take away people who are not criminals but normal citizens.
However, police claimed that the six people they had arrested from last night's operation had a cache of weapons with them, and that an investigation is under way at the moment.
Violence makes Lea Market a war zone:
Violence resumed with a fresh spate of hand grenade and rocket attacks and continuous, indiscriminate firing by protesters in the Lea Market area of Landhi.
According to Express News reporters, two major reasons why law enforcement agencies have not been able to take control of the situation is that there is little man power present at the scene and no senior officials present to lead the operation.
COMMENTS (11)
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@Khalid Pathan: I can smell racism in your comment .. You have not mentioned the root cause of disorder in the city, not even once .. Can I ask why ???? is it bcoz you are blind or something or the real criminals, extortionist and those who announce "peaceful strikes" that result in the deaths of dozens, belong to your community ????????????????????????? or you have sympathies for the mafia whose worker ,Ajmal pahari, has confessed involvement in over 100 murders ???
@F Khan: The so-called educated and civilised people of the metropolis have been casting vote in favour of the biggest criminal, extortionist, anti-Pakistan mafia for the past 26 years .. then on the other hand how can you object on the protest demo by the people of lyari against the murder of an alleged "Gangster" ???? after all they are not as much educated and civilised as you ..???
i agree bring in the rangers and army ..what is the wait for .? more dead bodies?..Its time to do operation mafia cleanup.
@Danish Ali Ahmad, Mr Danish what karachites get from MQM, thats the open question to the forum , target killings , extortions , No go areas , believe me karachi lost everything , now it is turning into a Beirut of 1980s. -You are talking about Takbeer , tell me what MQM had done to him , by attacking , ransaking his home and finally killed him. Is karachi an open society. Please do an introspective analysis. -MQM has created monsters like rehan kana, salam qasaee , fahim cammando so on and so forth. -People are living in fear to be honest with you in any civilized country the organization like MQM should be banned for good.
@To all of the above haters of MQM. This is the very certain reason that MQM came into existence. Before MQM the Mandate of Karachi was divided among PPP, JI and NAP(now ANP). PPP did not even open a single school in larakana, lyari was far away. NAP was there just to occupy illegal goths, and J.I was there to propogate Zia-ul-Haq dictation and recruit people from mosque to fight in Kashmir. The whole populace was turning into a melting pot, and there was no one to raise concerns about the radicalism spreading in the society. There was quota for SINDHies to have jobs and universities seats, there was quota for Punjab domicile holders, there was quota for Baluch domicile holder, there was quota for army officer spouse and kin, and even quota for the MNA's and MPA's. BUT there was no quota for urdu speaking people, or to say resident of Karachi. (I am complaining about mohajir quota). To say, People of Karachi were ORPHAN in political terms and hence were on the losing side. That was reason MQM came into existence, eventhough many people supported it, but there were many others who were candid in the begining. BUT THANKS to J.I stance, they became so aggravated in loosing the mandate that they started this nonsense blames, which in turns increased MQM mandate overtime. Thank you J.I and like people for further polarizing the society by your Fatally doctronized brains. i still remember reading the magazine called "takbeer" owned by J.I. who used to plot MQM in a manner that a SPACE WAR is going on. Lastly thanks to PPP/PMLn for not delivering in Karachi!! i guess they have to deliver first in their mandated area(larkana/lyari/lahore/punjab). WE WILL VOTE for MQM not that of they deserve it, but litteraly becasue WE SCARE OF YOUR broad base, intellectuallly emplified wisdom.
Karachi needs a military operation against all thugs (doing politics as mafias) , that is across the board. No one should be spared whether in the government or out of the government.
this all has started after a criminal was killed...lyari people are protesting against a killing of criminal? man how low this nation has gone.... i totally agree give it to rangers for a couple of months and if it does not work give it to army to maintain law and order.
an swat like operation is needed in karachi. all criminals who poses weapon should be given a deadline to handover the weapon. then a sudden operation. if anyone poses weapon , he should be arrested. in quick cases conducted by special judicial tribunal will give verdict.
Lyari should be handed to Rangers with full powers for a clean up operation to free the people of lyari who have become hostage in hands of Drug mafia's.Imagine the use of rockets and hand granades in the biggest city of country. It is not an ethnic issue .It is Criminals and Drug/Land mafia who hide behind ethnicity to prevent any operation against them
They are throwing hand grenades on the police ! CNBC live now .