Sayed Qaim Ali Shah, chief minister of Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, called on all parties to meet on Jan. 25 to review the prevailing situation in Karachi and create a consensus for steps to be taken to establish peace in Pakistan’s financial capital.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik has been shuttling between Islamabad and Karachi to defuse the situation in Karachi.

Tensions remained high between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party in Karachi, a city straddling political fault lines.

“A semi-curfew will be imposed in some areas of Karachi,” Malik told reporters after meeting top officials in the city.

Malik did not explain what he meant by “semi-curfew,” but Sindh Home Ministry spokesman Sharfuddin Memon said: “It is for the authorities to decide for how long they would like a troubled area to remain under curfew.”