16 fall prey to violence

Seven sectarian killings mar yet another day.

KARACHI:

Sixteen people were gunned down in drive-by shootings in Karachi a day after the Sindh government banned motorcycle pillion riding. The city has witnessed a spike in sectarian violence in recent days and the wave claimed seven more lives on Saturday.

Six students of a Deoband seminary were gunned down in a targeted attack by unidentified assailants, who fired a volley of bullets at the victims sitting at a roadside teashop in Block-2, Gulshan-e-Iqbal.

At least four armed men on two motorcycles opened fire at the seminary students with 9mm pistols, Gulshan SHO Rana Haseeb told The Express Tribune. The police officer believed the attack may have been in reaction to the targeted killings of Shias in Karachi.

Hafiz Abdul Khaliq, Hafiz Imran Abdullah, Hafiz Shams-ur-Rahman, Hafiz Habib Ahmed Khan, Hafiz Mohibullah and Hakim Saeed died on the spot while eight more students and  the hotel owner were injured.

The victims were taken to the Jinnah hospital, where a large number of people arrived to protest against the attack. Routine activities in Gulshan-e-Iqbal came to a halt as extra contingents of law enforcers were called in.

Five of the victims were students of Jamia Arabia Ahsanul Uloom while Mohibullah was a student at Jamia Abu Bakar Islamia.

Four students and a religious leader of the same seminary - Jamia Arabia Ahsanul Uloom - have been gunned down within the past one month.

Another man of the Deoband sect was shot dead near the KDA Chowrangi in North Nazimabad. Irfan Mohammad Jamshed, 28, was targeted by two armed attackers on a motorcycle, Hyderi police said. The body was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. The victim was the information secretary of ASWJ’s North Nazimabad unit.

Two more people were gunned down in North Nazimabad near the Saifi College. Syed Tariq Hussain, 47, and Aslam Raja, 53, were shot dead by armed motorcyclists. Hussain was the editor of a weekly magazine named Roshan Dia while Raja was a reporter.

In Korangi’s Jumma Goth, an activist of the Pakistan Peoples Party, identified as Akhtar Hussain Kalmati, 20, was gunned down near his home by two armed men on a motorcycle, said Ibrahim Hyderi police. His body was taken to the Jinnah hospital and handed over to the family after medico-legal formalities.

Taufeeq Arain was gunned down inside his car near Shadman Town by two armed men on a motorcycle, Taimuria police said.

Masood Ali, 18, was killed and Talha, 19, was wounded in a targeted attack in Korangi. The victims had gone to pay a utility bill when unidentified assailants fired at them after an exchange of hot words, Awami Colony police said.

Four alleged gangsters of a notorious Lyari group were shot dead in the Old Golimar area. The victims, identified as Munawar, Shahid, Babar and Qadir, were associated with the Baba Ladla group, Pak Colony police said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2012.