Top leader gunned down, riots kill 23 in Karachi

At least 23 people have been killed and some 70 wounded in riots that erupted in Karachi after a provincial assembly member of the ruling Muthaida Qaumi Movement was killed with his bodyguard in a mosque where he went to attend the funeral prayers of a friend.

Police officials and hospital doctors confirmed that since the assassination of MPA Reza Haider, some 23 people had been killed in incidents of rioting, firing and arson in different parts of the city.

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

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 para-military 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 with his bodyguard, Khalid Khan when they came to a mosque in Nazimabad no 2 to attend the funerial 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 close range, it was a 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 the month of July itself. Soon after the killing, 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 tried to rush to the safety of their homes.

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

The dark and deserted streets, the tension and fear and the mob violence which also dozens of vehicles and shops brought back dark memories for Karachites of the riots after the assassination former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto in December 2007 and the May 12 killings two years back.