KARACHI: The recent flare-up of violence in Karachi’s troubled Lyari neighbourhood erupted after “outside militant groups with political backing” tried to enter the area, says a report by a five-member committee of the PPP-led Sindh government.

The committee, comprising three provincial ministers — Dr Sikander Mandhro, Jam Mehtab Dahar, Ali Mardan Shah — and PPP (Sindh) secretary general Taj Haider and Rashid Rabbani, was formed by Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah last week to bring peace to Lyari and rehabilitate displaced families of the old city neighbourhood.

A large number of Kutchhi families were reported to have left their homes and shifted to safe places in the city as well as other towns of Sindh, including Thatta, Badin and Umerkot following the recent flare-up of violence in Lyari.

“Notwithstanding the fact that there always have been criminal elements in Lyari, which have been fighting each other now and then, the recent troubles in the area have erupted after outside militant groups with political backing have tried to enter Lyari,” says the report, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com.

The committee identified key troubled areas of Lyari, and submitted a map along with the report to indicate major entry points from which terrorists, weapons and ammunition enter the area.

“The troubled area has been limited to the Western Corner (Ghulaman-e-Abbas school at the connecting point of Mirza Adam Khan Road and Mauripur Road) to Lyari General Hospital in the Eastern direction and to Joona Masjid and Kamela Stop in South East direction along Shah Bhitai/Atmaram Pritamdas Road,” said the report.

“Terrorists/weapons/ammunition are entering the area from 3 entry points at Mirza Adam Khan Road namely, Coal Godown, No 10 Bus Stop and Ghulaman-e-Abbas School. Major entry points at Mauripur Road are opposite Karachi Circular Railway station and near Dua Hotel at hingorabad Road,” it adds.

‘Only 1049 displaced persons’

The committee, which was tasked to immediately contact the displaced Kutchhi families, said in its findings that only 1049 IDPs from Lyari were living in camps in Badin district.

“We have reports that some people have also reached as far as Umerkot and Mithi,” it said. It also noted “with satisfaction” that the administration was looking after the needs of the IDPs and that they did not have any complaints.

However, a representative of the Kutchhi Rabita Committee (KRC) Mohammad Husain Kutchi expressed dissatisfaction over the Sindh government’s ability to resolve the matter of the displaced persons.

“More than 5,500 people have migrated from the area since the recent violence. The federal government needs to intervene as the provincial government has previously made several promises to no effect,” he said.

Permanent check-posts recommended

The report said all of the displaced persons wanted to return home if peace was restored in Lyari.

The IDPs have demaned “the setting up of permanent check posts at the agreed points and manned by Rangers and the Police,” said the committee.

The report recommends to the chief minister that the setting up of permanent posts in the area is the “key to the whole problem, and the sooner these are set up the sooner will be the return of the displaced persons to their homes.

The committee also recommended that the chief minister place funds at the disposal of the respective deputy commissioners for expenses of the stay of the displaced persons and arrangements of transport for their return.