Firing kills at least 23 in Pakistan's Karachi

2009-04-30 01:15:03  

    ISLAMABAD, April 29 (Xinhua) --

At least 23 people were killed and 22 others wounded in firing in the southern port city of Karachi in Pakistan on Wednesday, local media reported.

    The violence took place in different parts of Karachi when unidentified gunmen opened fire and set ablaze vehicles, the private Geo TV channel said.

    Police and rescue sources said that over a dozen police and security personnel were also injured in the crossfire between two groups in various areas.

    Pakistani police have arrested 21 suspected gunmen during a search operation and started investigation into the violence.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

Violence in Pakistan financial hub kills 34

by Hassan Mansoor Hasan Mansoor

April 30, 2009

KARACHI (AFP) –

Armed ethnic clashes between Pashtun and Urdu-speaking groups have left at least 34 people dead in Pakistan's financial capital Karachi, officials said Thursday.

The clashes broke out overnight in the heart of the sprawling port city of 14 million but paramilitary troops managed to restore calm later Thursday, the uneasy peace punctuated just occasionally by sporadic gunfire.

"The situation is under control now and we are trying to maintain peace," said provincial minister for special development, Rafiq Engineer.

Officials at Karachi's largest hospital confirmed 25 dead there while nine bodies were delivered to another hospital in Pakistan's largest city, a senior police official said. Dozens of people were wounded.

The clashes left some parts of the usually bustling city almost deserted on Thursday.

Bazaars and shopping areas in the city's western and northern neighbourhoods remained closed, all Karachi schools were ordered shut and traffic on the streets was thin.

"These are targeted killings by criminals, drug and land mafias who want to fan ethnic violence in the city," Faisal Subzwari, youth affairs minister in the government of southern Sindh province, told AFP.

Fire officials said mobs had earlier burnt down dozens of shops and restaurants.

Tension between the Urdu-speaking Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) -- a partner in the national government -- and Pashtuns from northwest Pakistan who have flocked to Karachi looking for jobs are traditionally a source of unrest.

MQM and the Pashtun nationalist Awami National Party (ANP) both sit in the coalition government in Sindh province, and leaders in both groups blamed unknown "miscreants" for the fighting rather than each other.

But relations between their two communities are becoming increasingly tense. MQM members have criticised the Pashtuns for making the traditional liberal city more and more conservative -- pointing to an alleged "Talibanisation".

ANP denies the allegations and accuses Karachi mafia of land grabbing in the city's wealthy real estate resources.

Youth affairs minister Subzwari, a member of MQM, said three of those killed in the violence belonged to his party.

A spokesman for Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said the head of state strongly condemned the violence and called for unity.

"The president said that the nation could not afford violence in Karachi at a time when it was already dealing with the militants in northern parts of the country," spokesman Farhatullah Barbar said.

Pakistan is locked in fierce fighting in the northwest in a bid to flush out Taliban rebels and prevent them gaining ground in the troubled country.

Zardari said "the ongoing fight against militants called for a national consensus and for all political parties to join hands," Barbar said.

"We will foil the designs of those who want to exploit the situation by creating and promoting political and ethnic difference."

A spokesman for the Pakistan Rangers paramilitary force said they had arrested 25 suspects and recovered weapons and ammunition from them.

In December last year 24 people were killed and more than 200 injured in incidents blamed on activists from MQM and ANP.