KARACHI: At least 11 people were killed as violence erupted in Pakistan’s most populous city of Karachi yesterday after unknown gunmen opened fire on a rally, police said. Gunmen and arsonists went on the rampage after the firing on a protest rally against a police operation earlier this month in the city’s Lyari district in which 25 people were killed.
Sindh provincial home ministry official Sharfuddin Memon said 10 had been killed while police gave a toll of nine dead.
“At least 11 people have been killed and 25 wounded in acts of violence in different parts of the city,” Memon said. He said the victims included a woman and a girl while a television reporter and a cameraman were among those wounded.
Protesters torched more than two dozen cars and motorcycles and also set ablaze several shops, an AFP photographer witnessed.
Senior police official Shaukat Hussain put the toll at nine dead and more than two dozen wounded.
“The violence started after an incident of firing on a rally against a police operation in Lyari district,” Memon said, adding that seven people were wounded in the shooting.
Hundreds of people had joined the rally organized by a local ethnic group to promote the unity of Sindh province and another group claiming to represent Lyari district.
Unidentified gunmen opened fire on the rally.
“Soon after the attack, incidents of gunfire started in the adjoining localities and several vehicles were set on fire,” Hussain said.
Memon said contingents of police and paramilitary Rangers had been deployed to bring the situation under control.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said at least 500 people were killed in sudden flare-ups of violence in the city in the first four months of this year. Last year, violence claimed 1,715 lives.
The past violence has largely been linked to ethnic tensions between the Mohajirs, represented by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), and Pashtun migrants from Pakistan’s northwest affiliated to the Awami National Party (ANP).
11 killed in renewed Karachi violence
