KARACHI: The fresh wave of targeted killings and armed attacks in the city left at least 11 people dead and six injured on Friday, taking the toll to 19 in two days.
A retired officer of the army’s aviation wing, who was working as a pilot of the chief minister’s helicopter, was among the dead.
“Major (retd) Mudassir Iqbal Kashmiri, in his mid 50s, was targeted near Rabia City when he was returning home in Gulistan-i-Jauhar in his car from the airport,” said an official at the Sharae Faisal police station.
“Armed motorcyclists fired multiple shots at the moving vehicle, killing Mr Kashmiri on the spot. He received three bullets on his head and chest.”
An hour later, three armed men on two motorcycles attacked people coming out of a mosque after Friday prayers in Bukhari Colony of Orangi Town, killing 60-year-old Mohammad Yousuf and injuring 15-year-old Naveed.
Unidentified gunmen also opened fire on a 35-year-old fruit vendor, Saleem, and a passerby, Barkat Ali, only half a kilometre away from the mosque. They were taken to the Abbassi Shaheed Hospital, where Saleem died of wounds, said an official at the Pirabad police station.
In Sector 5-D of New Karachi, 30-year-old Zubair Rahim Khan was killed by armed motorcyclists just a few yards away from his home.
Mohammad Noor, a 26-year-old paan (betel leaf) shop owner, was found shot dead near a hotel in Orangi Town.
An official at the Site-A police station said he suspected that the victim, who was missing since Thursday night, was kidnapped while returning home near Nishah-i-Haider Chowk from his shop on the University Road.
Armed motorcyclists stopped outside a barber shop in North Nazimabad. One of them carrying a 9m pistol entered the shop and killed 34-year-old Naveed, who was waiting for his turn. He was an activist of the Pakistan People’s Party, said an official at the Shahrah-i-Noor Jehan police station.
An owner of fast food shop was killed outside his home in Korangi’s Chakra Goth. Muhamamd Shafiq, 39, was sitting with friends when two men on a motorcycle fired at him from a close range.
The bullet-riddled body of an aged man was found in Qayyumabad Nullah. His identity could not be ascertained.
The daylong violence also claimed the lives of two rickshaw drivers. Zafar Sheikh, 52, was killed in Malir and Taj Khan, 32, near Bara Board. Both the victims were returning after dropping passengers.
City police chief Fayyaz Leghari said that 14 people had fallen prey to targeted killings over the past 36 hours. But he denied that all the incidents were motivated on some specific reasons.
“I can’t say that the killings were executed on political or ethnic reason as we see it random with multiple reasons. We have arrested two men who attacked ANP leader Bashir Jan on Thursday night. They were also wanted in eight previous cases of targeted killings,” he said.
The fresh wave of targeted killings, which staged a comeback a couple of days ago, triggered a fresh war of words between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party. Both held each other responsible for the violence in their press conferences on Friday.
Sindh’s ANP leader Shahi Syed pointed an accusing finger at the MQM and said the “extortion mafia” was behind the killing spree.
The allegation prompted the MQM to hold an emergency press conference where Faisal Subzwari, the party’s deputy parliamentary in the Sindh Assembly, not only criticised the ANP-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, but also accused the ANP of “playing a part in a nefarious plan to engineer ethnic riots in the city”.
The government, on the other hand, blamed “anti-democratic forces” for the fresh violence and said they wanted to destabilise the existing political set-up and take every attempt to achieve the desired results.
“Our coalition partners are all onboard on this issue and they have shown their commitment to combating the menace time and again,” said Sharmila Farooqi, an adviser to the Sindh chief minister.
