Second MQM strike halts activity in Karachi

Traffic on the roads thin as businesses remained closed.

KARACHI: Businesses, shops and schools remained closed in the city and other parts of Sindh on Friday, after the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) called for a day of mourning relating to a second attack on their election office a day before.

Five people were killed and a dozen others were injured due to the attack.

Traffic on the roads was thin as businesses remained closed.

However, the city will resume activity as the Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI) announced to bring transport on the streets at 4pm, Express News reported Friday.

Barely 48 hours after a bomb attack outside a Muttahida Qaumi Movement camp office on Tuesday, another bomb blast took place close to an MQM election office in the city’s North Nazimabad neighbourhood, prompting the party to call for a day of mourning on Friday.

According to the Bomb Disposal Squad, four to five kilogrammes of explosive material were used in the device, and BDS officials said the materials used in Tuesday’s and Thursday’s blasts were identical.

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility for the attack.  “This is in continuation of our policy to target three political parties, the ANP, MQM and PPP,” he said from an undisclosed location. “These attacks will continue,” he warned.