Many killed in fresh violence in Karachi

Karachi, Jul 23: At least 19 people have been killed in violent clashes between activists of MQM and its breakaway faction in Pakistan's financial hub over the past two days.

Police and rescue officials said that since Friday 19 people have been killed in gunbattle between rival groups in the Malir Khokrapar area and Landhi. Two people were killed this morning near the Mai Kolachi crossing and Urdu nagar in Clifton area, a police official said.

The Interior Minister for the Sindh province Manzoor Wasan said the government had taken measures to control the situation and arrest the culprits.

Speaking to the media later, Wasan said Friday's violence was a "culmination of old hostilities" and the President Asif Ali Zardari has asked for indiscriminate action against "criminal elements".

The violence is said to be a result of a clashes between armed activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and its breakaway faction the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H).

Additional Inspector-General (AIG) Saud Mirza said the violence was triggered after activists of one political party tried to assert their control over an area, leading to clashes between the activists.

Dozens of armed gunmen, bearing sophisticated weapons and communication devices, barged into different areas of Malir and Landhi on motorcycles and twin-cabin luxury vehicles and resorted to indiscriminate firing in MQM-dominated localities, residents claimed.

In the month of July, over 100 people have been killed in the city in ethnic and political violence and target killings.

PTI