12 dead as rival gangs clash in Pakistan`s Karachi: Officials

Karachi: Twelve people including four women were killed on Wednesday in a violent clash between two gangs in Pakistan`s Karachi, officials said, with the death toll feared to rise. "The clash erupted this morning when two gangs exchanged heavy gunfire. Later they fired RPGs and lobbed hand grenades at each other," senior police official Faisal Bashir said.

He added that 39 people, including 15 schoolchildren, were injured. Bashir said the violence had erupted after one of the gangs had kidnapped a member of the other gang the night before. Sporadic gunfire could still be heard from the scene, according to an AFP reporter. Police were preventing journalists from entering the area. Dr Purshotum Das, a senior official at the Civil Hospital Karachi confirmed the attack and said: "We have received 12 dead bodies." The attack took place in Lyari, one of the poorest and most violent neighbourhoods of Karachi where clashes between rival gangs linked to political and ethnic groups erupt continuously.  Karachi, a city of 18 million people which contributes 42 percent of Pakistan`s GDP, has been plagued by sectarian, ethnic and political violence for years. Experts slam Malaysia`s struggle to chart MH370 crisis Manila air drops supplies to troops on disptued shoal Manila: The Philippines air dropped food and water to soldiers stationed on a grounded transport ship on the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, after China blocked two Filipino supply ships from reaching the troops, a senior navy official said on Wednesday. Chinese ships patrolling waters around Second Thomas Shoal, known in China as the Ren`ai reef, on Sunday ordered the Philippine ships carrying construction materials to leave the area. Beijing claims Manila is trying to start construction on the disputed reef after it ran aground an old transport ship in 1999 to mark its territory and stationed marines on the ship. Manila claims the Shoal is part of the Philippine`s continental shelf. "We only intend to improve the conditions there, we have no plans to expand or build permanent structures on the shoal," said a Philippines navy official, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the press. "On Monday, we sent a navy Islander plane to drop food and water but it will only last a few days. We really have to send back the civilian boats. Since last year, we`ve been resupplying our troops using civilian ships to avoid confrontation and this was the first time China blocked them." On Tuesday, Manila summoned the second highest Chinese embassy official to handover its strong-worded protest, calling the blockade "a clear and urgent threat to the rights and interests of the Philippines". Beijing`s claim over islands, reefs and atolls that form the Spratlys, a group of 250 uninhabitable islets spread over 165,000 square miles, has set it directly against U.S. allies Vietnam and the Philippines, while Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan also lay claim to parts of the South China Sea. The South China Sea provides 10 percent of the global fish catch, carries $5 trillion in ship borne trade a year and its seabed is believed to be rich with energy reserves.