Karachi: Violence escalated further in
Pakistan`s biggest city where 34 people were killed in
political and ethnic violence over the last 24 hours, and MQM
leader Altaf Hussain gave an ultimatum to the country`s
leadership to put an end to the bloodbath.
As mayhem continued in the financial hub, reports said
nearly 60 people have been killed since Friday in the city
that has been in the grip of violence for the past few months.
Thirty-four people lost their lives over the last 24
hours in the ongoing wave of target killings, including five
in overnight shooting incidents, a report in the Express
Tribune said.
The worst hit was Surjani Town where unidentified
gunmen set on fire few houses, shops and resorted to
indiscriminate firing in which two persons were killed and
several injured.
Police said violence quickly spread to other areas and
as many as 20 people were killed in incidents of violence in
Orangi, Surjani Town, Pak Colony, Landhi, Gulshan-e-Iqbal,
Korangi and other areas.
In another incident, men armed with sophisticated
weapons, attacked a factory with more than 1500 factory
workers trapped inside. They also torched motorbikes while
firing constantly.
Security forces, who reached the site almost an hour
after the attack could take complete control of the area after
an hour.
Four other people were also shot dead in four separate
incidents of the attacks in the city.
In a statement from London, MQM chief Hussain said he
was setting a 48-hour deadline before the government,
threatening strong public retaliation if the situation was not
brought under control.
"People would take on the task of defending their
lives and belongings by taking the law into their own hands,"
Hussain said.
He warned President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, that the government would be the
sole responsible for repercussions if peace was not restored.
Rattled by the never-ending cycle of violence,
residents of a colony took to the streets, chanting slogans
and torching vehicles on the way.
MQM lawmaker Wasim Ahmed also accused elements backed
by the Sindh government of trying to take over his party`s
stronghold.
"We won`t let anybody take over Karachi," Ahmed told
the National Assembly yesterday.
Provincial Interior Minister Manzoor Wasan held a
meeting with leaders of the leading political parties,
including Mutthaida Qaumi Movement and Awami National Party,
following which he promised that peace would return in two
months time.
"The fact is there are criminal elements who have
infiltrated into political parties and are causing this
violence. All parties have to cooperate with the government in
rooting out such elements. I assure you peace can be restored
totally to Karachi in two months time," the minister said.
PTI
