Widespread ethnic killings in karachi

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KARACHI: At least 25 people were killed and over 40 others injured in a fresh wave of ethnic violence in different parts of Karachi on Wednesday. About 20 vehicles were torched.

Tension and panic gripped parts of the city as unidentified attackers went on a shooting spree, killing most of the victims at point-blank range.

City police chief Wasim Ahmed told Dawn that 20 people had been killed in the violence across the city, including ‘16 Pathans and three Urdu-speaking people’.

Police said that the trouble began early in the morning when armed men who had taken position on the hills in North Karachi fired volleys of bullets upon Zarina Colony, a shanty town in the foothills. A worker of the Muttahida Quami Movement was killed at around 10.30am when he came under fire.

Police said that a sub-inspector and a constable were shot and wounded when law-enforcement personnel went to fetch the body.

The SP of North Karachi, Dr Farooq Ahmed, told Dawn that police and Rangers returned fire, forcing the gunmen to retreat. ‘Later, police and Rangers conducted a siege and search operation on the hills, arrested 16 people and seized some weapons,’ he added.

Witnesses said that special commandos from Rangers also reached the troubled hills and flushed the armed men out of the area. They said a Rangers man was shot and wounded in the action.

Most of the violent incidents took place in Khawaja Ajmair Nagri, Surjani Town and New Karachi Industrial Area. The violence-hit areas wore a deserted look as shopkeepers pulled down their shutters and vehicular traffic disappeared.

An MQM worker was shot dead in Shah Faisal Colony. His body was first taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and then to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for post-mortem.

Police surgeon Dr Hamid Padhiar told Dawn that 12 people were brought dead to the Abbasi Hospital. ‘Five bodies were later shifted to the JPMC,’ he added.

The director at the emergency centre of JPMC, Dr Seemin Jamali, told Dawn that 11 bodies and 18 wounded people were brought to the hospital. ‘Four wounded victims later died,’ she added.

Civil Hospital’s medico-legal officer Dr Sarwat Channa said that a man was brought dead from North Nazimabad and another man from Teen Hatti.

‘A man with a bullet wound was brought to the facility from Gulistan-i-Jauhar,’ he added. Vehicles were torched in North Karachi, Landhi, Malir and Al-Fallah.

The dead were identified as Zahoor Shah, Sanubar Khan, Din Mohammed, Javed, Jalil, Amjad, Mehmood, Shahid, Juma Khan, Sanwal, Dost Ali, Jameel, Sarfaraz, Khalid, Shah Khalid and Hanif.

Sources said that two bullet-riddled bodies were found at a post office in Sachal area. The bodies were taken to the JPMC late in the night.

DAWN.COM | Metropolitan | Widespread violence afflicts Karachi
 

Singh

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Girl among seven killed in Lyari gang war



An aged man sits beside his destroyed household items after a rocket, fired by one of the warring groups, hit his house in Machhar Colony, injuring five women and a 10-year-old boy. - APP photo

KARACHI: Seven people, including a young girl, were killed on Tuesday in different parts of mafia-infested Lyari in a fresh wave of violence as rivals traded heavy gunfire.

A rocket-propelled grenade, fired by one of the warring groups, hit a house in Machhar Colony, a shantytown along Mauripur Road, injuring five women and a 10-year-old boy.

Residents of various localities said they had a sleepless night as the entire vicinity echoed with heavy gunfire that left five people dead and eight others wounded at different places, including Shah Latif Bhitai Road, Rangiwara, Phool Patti Lane and Hingorabad. Two people were subsequently found killed.

Tension and panic gripped almost every part of the violence-hit Lyari, which wore a deserted look with businesses and offices closed and vehicular traffic off the streets.

Witnesses said the gun-wielding gangsters took positions on rooftops in their respective strongholds as the police disappeared from the streets, confining themselves to the police stations. The Baghdadi police said the trouble started a couple of days back over extortion from traders belonging to the Katchi, Memon and Bohra communities by the gangsters.

A councillor of Nawalane, Chakiwara (UC-11), Zafar Baloch, told Dawn that some elements were trying to fan ethnic strife among the different communities living in the vicinity to achieve their political aims.

However, he said, the area people were making efforts to ease the situation and a peace committee, comprising members of different communities, was formed. ‘The committee held a meeting at the office of the SP of Lyari in the evening,’ he said.

The area SP, however, could not be reached despite repeated attempts as his cellular phone was continuously found switched off and he was not available at his office either.

The councillor said that all the victims – dead and wounded – were passers-by and they received bullet wounds in crossfire.

The dead and the wounded from Lyari were shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi.

The Docks police said a rocket-propelled grenade was fired from Lyari at around 4.30pm and it landed on a house near Saddam Chowk in Machhar Colony.

Residents said the grenade hit the wall of the house of Rashid Ahmed, a Bengali-speaking fisherman, and the blast also slightly damaged the house of his neighbour, Salmat Ullah, also a fisherman.

They said five women and a boy were wounded in the blast and they were immediately shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi.

The SP of Keamari, Saqib Ismail Memon, said a heavy contingent of police rushed to the spot and cordoned off the locality.

The bomb disposal squad also reached the spot, inspected it and collected the spent tube of the grenade.

The SP of Keamari suspended the Docks police SHO for his failure to reach the spot immediately.

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Girl among seven killed in Lyari gang war
 

Singh

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23 killed as violence grips Karachi

* Rioters torch vehicles, shops; Rangers and police fail to control situation
* Educational institutions closed todayg Zardari slams violence, Altaf appeals for peace

By Faraz Khan

KARACHI: At least 23 people, including political workers, were killed and several wounded on Wednesday as violence erupted in the capital of Sindh province after two MQM workers were allegedly killed by Pashtuns in North Karachi.

Various television channels, however, reported that at least 34 people had been killed.

The violence erupted in North Karachi when bodies of two MQM workers, Khalid and Mehmood, were found.

The city witnessed bloodshed in the ensuing riots, clashes and target killings. The violence quickly spread from North Karachi to other areas of the city and continued late into the night. Rival groups in these areas clashed with each other, and rioters killed several people. Passenger buses also came under attack in some incidents. Rioters set ablaze over 15 vehicles and torched several shops.

Rangers, police fail: Despite a joint flag march by the Rangers and police, the law-enforcement agencies were unable to bring the situation under control. Around 25 Pashtuns were detained after a two-hour door-to-door operation in Zareena Colony, North Karachi, while 14 more were detained in other areas. The law-enforcement agencies also claimed to have seized a huge cache of weapons. Dr Seemin Jamali, emergency department director at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), told Daily Times that eight bodies and nine injured people – three of whom later died – were brought to the hospital. Sources at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital told Daily Times that a total of 14 bodies were brought to the hospital – of which four were shifted to JPMC. Sources at Civil Hospital Karachi said that a passer-by gunned down in Teen Hatti was brought to the hospital. The Sindh chief minister has ordered stern action against those involved in the unrest, and called a meeting on Thursday to discuss the situation.

Institutions closed: Amid the riots, a private TV channel reported that the Sindh government has announced the closure of all education institutions on Thursday.

Zardari, Altaf: The electronic media also reported that President Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif have condemned the violence. MQM chief Altaf Hussain has appealed to the people of Karachi to ensure peace in the city. Witnesses told Daily Times that shots were heard from the hills of Pahar Ganj as a funeral procession was passing from the area. MQM workers Khalid and Mehmood rushed to the hills to take a look, but were shot and died immediately. The witnesses said that the firing was so intense that they were unable to recover the bodies of the two workers for the next two hours. Following the incident, clashes erupted and two pedestrians were shot dead near the same place where the MQM workers were killed.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
 

Singh

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28 killed in Karachi violence

KARACHI: An armed attack on a locality of North Karachi on Wednesday triggered violence on a large scale in central and eastern parts of Karachi, claiming 28 lives.

In the North Karachi gunbattle, five people, including two activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), were killed, while more than 10 vehicles and several stalls were torched.

Following the incident, target killings started in which several people lost their lives. Also, stalls and tea hotels were torched in several localities, including Sohrab Goth, Samanabad and New Karachi.

According to residents of North Karachi, armed men of a political group on Wednesday afternoon attacked Zareena Colony and Sector-5 C4, North Karachi, Khwaja Ajmer Nagri, and started torching flags of their rival group.

The activists of the rival group rushed to the scene to rescue the residents. Upon seeing the activists, the political workers opened indiscirminate fire from the hills, killing two MQM activists, who were identified as Mohammad Shahid, son of Mohammad Fareed, and Mohammad Khalil, son of Ibrahim. Police sources said the dead were activists of the MQM New Karachi Sector 137-A.

In the clash, three other citizens were also killed. One of them was identified as Jumma Khan, 35. Afterwards, a large contingent of police and Rangers reached the place. In the ensuing clash, sub-inspectors Moinur Rehman and Javed Rehmani, police constable Sajjad, and Hawaldar Zulfiqar of the Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, were injured.

In the firing incidents between the groups, Sanober and Mansoor, activists of the MQM, an unknown man, Mohammad Muslim, Ramesh, Mohsin and Soni were injured. Following the North Karachi incident, violence engulfed the central areas of Karachi, including North Karachi, New Karachi, Samanabad, Khawaja Ajmer Nagri, North Nazimabad, Sharea Noor Jehan, Sohrab Goth and other parts of the city, where armed men were seen roaming, resorting to aerial firing and target killings.

According to sources at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, they had received 13 bodies till the filing of this report. Of them, nine were identified. More than 20 injured were also received by the hospital.

At the Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre, 14 bodies were lying there, of which seven were identified as those of Zahoor Shah, Sanober Khan, Deen Mohammad, Javed, Jalil, Dost Ali and Amjad.

Armed men broke into the New Quetta Hotel, situated in Raza Heights, New Karachi, and resorted to firing, injuring Asadullah and Gul Zaman. Later, they torched the hotel and fled. Violence also gripped Shah Faisal Colony, where armed men killed a taxi driver, Deen Mohammad. The deceased was waiting for passengers at the Natha Khan Goth taxi stand, when two armed men on motorcycles killed him. The deceased was an activist of the MQM Unit-108, Shah Faisal Colony. A passer-by, Najam, was also killed. Afterwards, the whole of Shah Faisal Colony was closed.

Police sources said armed motorcyclists killed two persons in Block-L, North Nazimabad, and one person in Block-J, North Nazimabad. Armed motorcyclists entered the Aslam Market of Sharea Noor Jehan, started aerial firing and then killed a man in front of a barber shop and fled.

Armed men also riding a motorcycle opened indiscriminate fire on a mini-bus in Sir Syed police limits, killing an unidentified passenger, while injuring several others. Mohammad Hanif was killed by armed men at the Teen Hatti Bridge.

Sawal, 6, was shot dead when armed men opened fire on a mini-bus near Abdullah College. Unknown men torched one crane, two pick-ups, three mini-buses, two buses, one tanker, a dumper in North Karachi area, while a bus was torched at Shadman Town Chowrangi.

Unidentified men torched a Quetta tea hotel in Sector-5 C4, situated opposite to the Madina petrol pump. Unknown men torched three tea hotels and two shops in Gulistan-i-Jauhar police limits.

According to eyewitnesses, unidentified people carrying arms entered the Samanabad area and torched 15 stalls. Violence also gripped the whole of Gulistan-i-Jauhar and Gulshan-i-Iqbal areas, where armed men forced the closure of shops and resorted to aerial firing.

During a crackdown by the Rangers and police, 15 people were arrested from the affected areas of the city. Meanwhile, Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Altaf Hussain has appealed to the people of Karachi that they should remain peaceful and calm despite the loss of several lives in the city.

In a statement on Wednesday, the MQM leader said the unlawful activities of miscreants, including incidents of arson and torching, had caused serious miseries to the dwellers of Karachi.

He appealed to the citizens to actively contribute to restore normalcy and peace to Karachi in order to avoid further casualties among innocent civilians. He also urged Karachi-based leaders of all political parties to play their role in the revival of peace while using their influence among their followers.

Meanwhile, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan directed the authorities concerned to take stringent and foolproof measures to ensure safety of the residents of Karachi. He also appealed to the people of Karachi to keep a watch over miscreants and also maintain unity and solidarity in order to foil the conspiracy against peace.

28 killed in Karachi violence
 

vijaytripoli

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http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-c...-karachi--bi-10

‘Shoot at sight’ orders issued in Karachi
By Syed Irfan Raza
Thursday, 30 Apr, 2009 | 04:06 AM PST |

ISLAMABAD: The Minister of State for Ports and Shipping, Nabeel Gabol, has said that Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Home Minister Zulfiqar Ali Mirza have issued ‘shoot at sight’ orders to security forces in Karachi. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has ordered an inquiry into the new wave of violence in the city.

Talking to Dawn here on Wednesday, Mr Gabol said: ‘Rangers and other security forces have been ordered to shoot miscreants carrying out indiscriminate firing, killing innocent people and burning public and private property.’

He said: ‘We know who these people are and what is their agenda.’ Mr Gabol denied that the fighting was between workers of three main political parties — Pakistan People’s Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Awami National Party.

‘We have information that they are the men of a foreign agency who are killing innocent people in collaboration with a religious party,’ the minister said, adding that 10 to 15 armed men in different areas of the city had been tasked to spread terror.

‘They are the enemy of Pakistan and creating unrest in Karachi, but I am hopeful that security forces will overcome the situation by tomorrow.’

Mr Gabol said that people involved in shooting and burning vehicles were not political workers but terrorists who had been planning attacks in Karachi over the past three months to sabotage harmony between the PPP, MQM and ANP.

ALTAF’S APPEAL
MQM chief Altaf Hussain warned the government in a TV interview that criminals and people of land and drug mafia had been planning to sabotage peace in Karachi.

He appealed to leaders and workers of the MQM, PPP and ANP to remain peaceful and reactivate their joint peace committees to help restore peace in the city.

The MQM chief urged the provincial government to convene an emergency meeting of leaders of main political parties to evolve a joint strategy to cope with the situation.

Mr Altaf alleged that the Taliban were supporting drug and land mafia in Karachi and providing them arms and money.
 

vijaytripoli

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http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-c...-karachi--bi-11

‘Land mafia behind new wave of killings in Karachi’By M. Ziauddin
Wednesday, 29 Apr, 2009 | 04:28 AM PST |

LONDON: The Karachi land mafia is behind the new wave of killings in the city, Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq has claimed.



‘The mafia is playing the three coalition partners, the PPP, the MQM and the ANP against each other with these blind, but broad daylight murders,’ he said while talking to Dawn.



The minister who was on his way to Germany via London to attend an education conference also claimed that the purpose of the land mafia was to keep the coalition government unsettled enough to be able to carry on its nefarious activities without let or hindrance.



‘They have the money and the fire power and Karachi’s land is gold mine. They buy people and those not on sale they terrorise and those who refuse to be terrorised they kill,’ he said.



But where is the government? He was asked. ‘We are doing our best. We have formed committees, there is a core provincial committee comprising five MPS each from PPP and MQM, and there is also one federal core committee comprising two MNAs each from PPP and MQM. We meet regularly and try to put out bilateral fires. We need to have similar arrangements with the ANP as well,’ he added.



He said every time Asfandyar Wali Khan and Altaf Hussain talked to each other on telephone it would be followed by a new wave of killings which he said indicated that there was a hidden hand which did not want the MQM and the ANP to reach an understanding.

He was not sure how the May 12 strike call given by the ANP and opposed by the MQM would play out and said he was keeping his fingers crossed, ‘I am sure the president would intervene and mediate between the MQM and the ANP’.

When his attention was drawn to the miserable plight of the education sector in the rural Sindh, he said he was aware of it and was trying to bridge at least the gap that has emerged in recent years between the rural and urban Sindh on the education front.

‘Recently I revived a multi-million-dollar World Bank programme which was discontinued in 2007 for recruiting teachers with the right qualifications,’ he added.

He also agreed with this correspondent that the physical infrastructure in the rural Sindh was in pathetic condition with even cities like Sukkur, Larkana having no suitable roads and there being no properly motorable link roads within the rural part of the province.
‘That is why many of our voters have started demanding that we hand over the rural Sindh towns as well to Mustafa Kamal,’ he said light heartedly.
He admitted that Mr Niamatullah Khan, the former Jamaat-i-Islami Nazim of Karachi, and the current one had done wonders with the city ‘and we hope those responsible for rural Sindh infrastructure would also do the same’.
‘You see most of the elected local councillors are not even matriculates and many are too unforgiving to govern even handedly. Some are said to have refused to issue death certificates to those whose family members did not vote for them. We cannot do much about them. They are protected under the sixth schedule which expires in August this year,’ he added.
He said the PPP was all for the revival of the deputy commissioner’s institution, ‘but the MQM says its does not want its extension to Karachi and Hyderabad. We are trying to get them on board’.

When asked why even meritorious students from the rural Sindh were not allowed admission in the prestigious institutions of Karachi like the Dow University of Health Sciences and the NED University, he said the provincial core group had taken up the matter with the governor.
‘We have proposed that a quota should be reserved in both the rural and urban institutions for students of the two parts of the province.
There is a rural quota in the Karachi institutions but it is reserved only for the city’s suburbs like Gadap,’ he added.
 

Singh

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^^ BS.. Killing is due to Pashtun-Muhajir-Sindhi tensions.. Things are expected to remain tense, esp since ANP has decided to take out rally to commemorate the Pashtuns who died during May 22 riots.
 

Rage

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Scenes of the Violence:






















Courtesy of the Dawn Newjh
 

Rage

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I've heard some crazy things about Karachi, including experiences of a white man who spent 9 months in the city and woke up every morning to donkey carts plowing the streets with dead bodies from among the litter.
 

Su-47

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I've heard some crazy things about Karachi, including experiences of a white man who spent 9 months in the city and woke up every morning to donkey carts plowing the streets with dead bodies from among the litter.
There are crazy stories like that about every city. In some major cities like New York, Los Angels Moscow, Johannesburg etc dozens are killed everyday by criminals or in gang wars. Even in Mumbai, the mafia kills off a lot of people.
 

Pintu

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Most shocking news and pictures of crime against humanity , may be the country being our enemy and lives on hatred against but it is the loss of human life that ultimately result of two nation theory, my heart bleeds for the victims.
 

ahmedsid

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I remember Singhji predicting this on the Chatbox a Few days ago! Man what is Pakistan coming to!
 

Singh

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^^ yeah what is pakistan coming to when people in delhi can predict riots in their cities :D
PS: I am not a RAW agent :p
 

K Factor

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^^ yeah what is pakistan coming to when people in delhi can predict riots in their cities :D
PS: I am not a RAW agent :p
What a prediction, sirjee.........

Well, the next 1 month is crucial. with PA (actually, not the PA, but paramilitary forces like FC) trying to push back Taliban, election results in India..... and US policies regarding aid to Paks
 

Vinod2070

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The Mohajirs seem to be getting the better of the Pushtuns in Karachi! Of course their greater numbers and organization in addition to control of the city must be a plus for them.
 

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NWFP govt announces establishment of Darul Qaza (Islamic Courts) in Malakand.

NWFP govt announces establishment of Darul Qaza in Malakand.

PESHAWAR: NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain has announced the setting up of Darul Qaza in Malakand region.

Addressing a news conference here on Saturday night, the provincial minister said that �Ziauddin and Moinuddin have been appointed as Qazis at the Darul Qaza, adding that a notification has also been issued in this connection.�

�It is a good news for the people of Malakand who have been demanding for long for the establishment of Nifaz-e-Adl Regulation,� Hussain said.

He said that the regulation would be implemented onwards from today.

The minister also called upon Sufi Muhammad to help the government in this regard.

�Qazis have been appointed according to the Sharia in line with the demands of Tehrik Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi,� he said.

Hussain also quoted a statement of Sufi Muhammad in which he had said that one who would pick up arms after the implementation of the regulation would be considered as insurgent.

There was no reason left to pick up arms after the setting up of Darul Qaza, he said, warning that government would take strict action against those who would try to establish parallel state in the province.

Novaproxy - surf fast, free and anonymous
 

Daredevil

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So, now it is official, Talibanisation of Pakistan begun.
 

Pintu

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The war on terror in part of Pakistan that are being fought nothing but farce, and eye wash that is proved and got official recognition from Pakistan.

Regards
 

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