KARACHI, Dec 17: A man, stated to be a pedestrian, was killed and three others were wounded when an armed clash broke out between supporters of the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Abul Hasan Ispahani Road on Monday evening.
Although the exact cause of the clash was not clear, there were some reports that the conflict between the two groups erupted when two MQM activists were roughed up at Iqra Apartments, allegedly by activists of the ANP.
According to another version, the violence was sparked off when a party flag was hoisted and a group took offence.
According to the police, however, a dispute over the possession of a flat led to the incident and the subsequent violence.
City police chief Azhar Farooqi told Dawn that both the parties involved had different versions to offer about the cause of the incident. “But our findings suggest that the possession of a flat in Iqra Apartments was the main problem,” he said, adding that things were now under control and hostilities had ceased.
The clash between armed activists of the MQM and the ANP created escalating tension in the area, and subsequently led to an exchange of fire between the two groups, said the police and eyewitnesses. As the groups traded hails of bullets, the people of the area took refuge and braced themselves against the possibility of the incident leading to ethnic riots ahead of the forthcoming general elections.
During the exchange of fire a pedestrian, said to be from the Seraiki belt, sustained a fatal gunshot wound. Reportedly, he had nothing to do with the groups involved in the hostilities and was hit by a stray bullet.
Three other people were also reported wounded in the shooting. The dead and the injured were taken to the nearby Patel Hospital.
All the business activities in the area came to an abrupt halt due to the gun battle, which continued intermittently for several hours. Tension prevailed in other parts of Gulshan, which led to shopkeepers pulling down their shutters as far away as Gulshan Chowrangi.
The traffic on the Super Highway was suspended as a result of the firing and similarly, traffic coming from Gulshan-i-Iqbal and University Road was also diverted away from the Maskan Intersection.
As the situation deteriorated, the SP of Gulshan Town sought police reinforcements from his superiors. Although the entire strength of the area police was already deployed in the area, they were able to act as little more than silent spectators and save themselves from stray bullets, eyewitnesses told Dawn.
According to the people of the area, the length of Abul Hasan Ispahani Road which is situated close to the Super Highway has become a flashpoint for sporadic disputes between the two communities residing on both sides of the highway. Due to different reasons, often minor issues, they find themselves pitched against each other and the confrontations, often armed, result in the loss of lives.
The area’s residents said that very often, the people who died in these clashes were innocent pedestrians or bystanders and the parties who were actively involved in the disputes seldom suffered any damage.
Until the filing of this report, the administration was facilitating negotiations between the rival parties to settle the dispute.
A spokesman for the Awami National Party, Amin Khattak, said that politics was the name of tolerance. According to his statement, the trouble started when an ANP worker, who was hosting a party flag in Bakar Goth, was fired upon by the rival group. He said that not only the ANP workers but also the activists of the other group should have exercised restraint.
Mr Khattak called upon the government to remove all party flags since during election campaigns, party flags often became the cause of violence.
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