33 killed in Karachi violence

A former MP for the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Waja Karimdad, was among those killed in the fresh wave of violence in Karachi, where hundreds of additional police and paramilitary troops were deployed last month.

Spiralling unrest is a major source of concern in Pakistan\'s biggest city, which is used by NATO to ship the bulk of its supplies to troops fighting in Afghanistan and which accounts for around a fifth of the country\'s GDP.

The violence has been linked to ethnic tensions between the Mohajirs, the Urdu-speaking majority represented by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), and Pashtun migrants affiliated to the Awami National Party (ANP).

Karachi, a city of 18 million and the economic powerhouse of the country, has seen its population explode since independence in 1947.

Its neighbourhoods have been swollen by a huge influx of migrants from across the country, but particularly the deprived, Pashtun northwest, looking for jobs and more recently to escape Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked violence.

Most of the killings have been reported in the southern Lyari neighbourhood, a PPP stronghold infested by powerful criminal gangs.

"At least 33 people have been killed in different areas of Karachi including Lyari since Wednesday morning," city police chief Saud Mirza told AFP.

Slum compounds in the Lyari area were seen spattered with blood and damaged by gun fire and hand grenade attacks that had killed some residents and left widows crying and beating their chests outside their homes.

"The situation is still very tense in Lyari and other areas of southern Karachi with sporadic gunfire being echoed around these neighbourhoods," a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He blamed criminal gangs for the fresh outbreak of violence and said more paramilitary rangers and police had been deployed to the troubled areas.

A senior health official earlier confirmed that 30 bodies had been brought to city hospitals.

Karachi\'s worst-affected areas are impoverished and heavily populated neighbourhoods where most of the criminal gangs are believed to be hiding.

Victims and their families said many of those hurt were innocent bystanders.

Two children and an elderly man were among those killed in Lyari.

"Children were playing in the compound on Wednesday night when two men opened fire on them, killing my nephew Dheeraj, a young girl called Usha and an 80-year old resident," said Kheraj Das.

"We are poor people, we don\'t belong to any political party. I am at a loss to understand why we were attacked and why our innocent children were killed."

The body of 28-year-old Muhammad Shahnawaz, bearing signs of torture, was dumped in the market area of the neighbourhood on Wednesday, but his brother said he had no grievance with anyone, nor any political affiliations.

"Shahnawaz went for dinner with his four friends, who were also kidnapped. Their bodies were also found from nearby areas", Muhammad Imtiaz told AFP.

"Why was my innocent brother killed and his three small children deprived of their father?" he asked, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Muhammad Hussain, 30, a resident of impoverished Kharadar neighbourhood, was shot in the stomach.

He said gunmen had burst into a restaurant where he was breaking his Ramadan fast and opened fire indiscriminately.

"I saw two men on a motorbike, one of them spraying bullets on the people," said Hussain, a grocery store owner. "I passed out as terrorists opened fire..." he added.

The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 800 people have been killed in Karachi so far this year, compared with 748 in 2010.

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