At least 42 people, including a popular former MP of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, were killed in a fresh outbreak of violence unleashed by criminal gangs in Karachi, where gunmen also abducted 13 employees of a private firm.
The trouble, which started from Lyari and its adjoining areas in old Karachi on Wednesday afternoon, escalated after Waja Karim Dad, former member of National Assembly or lower house of Parliament, and four of his associates were gunned down while sitting at a restaurant to break their Ramzan fast on Wednesday evening.
A gang of seven to eight unidentified gunmen also abducted 13 employees of a private company but later released 12 of them, police said on Thursday.
Geo News reported that 42 people have been killed in the fresh wave of violence, including 26 who lost their lives overnight due to incidents of firing and torture.
Crime-infested Lyari and its adjoining areas have for months now been badly affected by gang wars between high-profile criminals and political parties accusing each other of patronising these gangs.
Police said the violence spread to nearby areas and five bodies belonging to one family were recovered from Mauripur, four from Lasbella and three each from Garden and Ranchore lines today.
The violence and killing of Wajah Karim Dad led to the complete closure of markets and shopping areas in the old city areas of Lyari, Shoe Market, Bolton Market, Paan Mandi, Lee Market and Jodia Bazar.
Residents in Pan Mandi said the situation was very tense in these old areas with sporadic firing being reported at regular intervals.
The violence prompted the para-military Pakistan Rangers to hold an emergency meeting, with the chief of the Citizens Police Liason Committee, Ahmed Chino, saying that a new security plan was being worked out to control the situation.
"The meeting is being held to discuss a new security plan as efforts are underway to control the situation," Chino said.
Karachi has been badly hit by violence in recent times, with around 325 people killed last month in different parts of the city in target killings.
Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon told the media that the government was making every effort to restore peace in the troubled areas but the terrorists and criminals continued to operate in different parts of the city.
President Asif Ali Zardari, in a condolence message, expressed his deepest sympathies on the death of the former PPP MP, who represented Lyari area.
Zardari lauded the contribution of Waja Karim Dad as a PPP lawmaker and said that with his death the party had lost a seasoned politician and a sincere worker.
