Lyari’s killing fields: 19 civilians killed as rival gangs clash in Karachi

Dead include 10 women and four children; LEAs claim to have killed eight gangsters.

KARACHI:

Rival gangs fought bloody battles in the labyrinthine alleys of a congested neighbourhood of Karachi, leaving 19 civilians – among them 10 women and four children – dead and 50-plus wounded while the law-enforcers saw the clashes from afar. They, however, claimed later in the day that they have killed eight alleged gangsters involved in the bloodshed.

Although tension has been brewing in Lyari since the killing of five relatives of Baba Ladla, the head of one of the three major criminal gangs, on Monday, the situation boiled over on Wednesday when a brother of Ghaffar Zikri, the head honcho of another powerful gang allied with the Baba Ladla group, was killed in an alleged encounter with the law enforcers.

According to insiders, the two gangs suspected that their rival, Uzair Baloch, the head of the defunct Peoples Amn Committee, was behind these killings.

Interestingly, the dons of all three gangs – Baba Ladla, Ghaffar Zikri and Uzair Baloch – have been underground for a couple of months – and it’s their minions who have been operating in Lyari, which has been plagued by sporadic outbreak of criminal-related violence since long.

Fighting erupted on Wednesday when gangsters from Baba Ladla and Ghaffar Zikri groups, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons, decided to avenge the deaths of their men, insiders told The Express Tribune.

“They mounted the attack after reaching the Rangiwara locality, the stronghold of Baba Ladla group, on Gharibshah, the bastion of the Uzair Baloch group,” said one of the insiders. “However, stiff resistance checked their march and the two sides rained bullets and rockets on each other from a distance.”

Most of the casualties were caused when shoppers in the busy Jhatpat Market, which serves as a buffer between Rangiwara and Gharibshah, were caught up in the cross-fire.

“Jhatpat Market is a Line of Control between the two gangs,” another insider told The Express Tribune. “Innocent shoppers and traders in Jhatpat Market fell victim to the gang war,” he added. “Violence is a routine matter in Lyari. However, today’s bloodshed has broken the records of past six months,” said Shahzad Baloch, who was wounded in the clash.

Residents blamed the police and paramilitary Rangers for the killings who, they allege, stood like silent spectators while the gangsters were unleashing a reign of terror in the area.

“The law enforcers didn’t enter the fray. They had left the innocent residents at the mercy of gangsters,” said Akram Baloch, a resident of Gul Mohammad Lane. “Someone should ask them where were they when innocent civilians were being killed the whole day.”

Rescuers risked their lives to get to the injured. “This was one of the biggest challenges for us,” an Edhi volunteer said. “We ventured into those areas of Lyari where even law enforcers were reluctant to go.”

Most of the casualties were driven to the Civil Hospital of Karachi. “We received 12 bodies and 42 injured,” said Dr Nisar Ahmed Shah, the medico-legal officer of the Civil Hospital. “Some bodies were taken away by relatives before we could perform post-mortem.”

He added that most of the fatalities were caused by shrapnel from Awan, an indigenously developed RPG. The dead included a woman, her daughter, two sisters and their six-year-old female cousin, while several schoolchildren are among the injured.

The law enforcers swung into action only after the authorities, especially the prime minister, took notice of the alarming situation.

Interestingly, the police blamed only Ghaffar Zikri and Baba Ladla gangs for the bloodbath. “This was not a gang war. This was a reaction to the killing of Fateh Zikri,” said DIG Abdul Khaliq Sheikh. “The Uzair Baloch group did not retaliate.”

DIG Sheikh claimed that eight gangsters have been killed in police and Rangers operations which were ongoing till late in the night.

The Rangers was accused of killing Fateh Zikri in a staged encounter because he was reportedly picked up by the paramilitary force a few weeks ago. The Rangers, however, denied the allegation. “The criminals are in the habit of accusing us of extrajudicial killings,” said a Rangers official. “They [gangsters] were scared. This is why instead of attacking us in response to their man’s killing, they decided to hit the soft target because they knew that the rangers will not spare us.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2014.