MQM leader killed; riots erupt in Karachi

Thirty people died and nearly 70 were injured in riots that erupted in Karachi after a provincial assembly member of the ruling Muthaida Qaumi Movement was killed along with his bodyguard in a mosque where he had gone to attend the funeral prayers of a friend.

Police officials and hospital doctors confirmed that since the assassination of MPA Reza Haider, 30 people have been killed in incidents of rioting, firing and arson in different parts of Karachi and Hyderabad.

"We have received nearly 13 dead bodies and are treating 45 injured people, most of them from gunshot wounds," said the medico legal officer of the state-owned Jinnah hospital.

Doctor Abbas Rizvi at the Abbasi Shaheed hospital said nine dead bodies were brought to the hospital and dozens were being treated for gunshot wounds and other injuries.

"It is a precarious situation and there is trouble in many parts of the city and we have increased the number of policemen and the paramilitary rangers patrolling the city," city police chief Waseem said.

Reza Haider, one of the oldest members of the MQM and a member of the Sindh assembly, was gunned down along with his bodyguard Khalid Khan when they came to a mosque in Nazimabad to attend the funeral prayers of a friend.

"Four persons riding a motorcycle and in a white car came to the mosque and as Reza Haider was performing ablution, they fired at him from a close range. It was clearly a target killing," another senior police official said.

The death of the MQM leader comes in the midst of a series of target killings in the city in which some 40 activists of different political and religious parties have been killed in July. Soon after the killing of the MPA, activists sprung into action and ordered the closure of all major markets and shopping centres while major traffic jams were witnessed on the main roads as people rushed to the safety of their homes.

"We are trying to control the situation but the number of casualties could increase," another police official admitted.