Karachi : For the third day running, target killings continued unabated in the city as five activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party were killed in different parts of the city, while another man was shot dead in the New Town area. The situation remained tense in areas such as Sohrab Goth and Orangi Town, where armed men resorted to aerial firing and forced closure of shops.
The first incident took place on Wednesday afternoon in the Lasi Goth area of Ayub Goth. The targeted attack which took place within the Sohrab Goth police limits resulted in the death of the general secretary of the ANP’s Sohrab Goth Ward, Hazrat Khan.
The police said that Hazrat Khan was outside the office with other party activists when armed men, riding on motorcycles, carrying 9mm pistols and Kalashnikovs opened fire and injured the victim. After carrying out the armed attack, the assailants fled from the scene of the crime. ANP activists rushed Hazrat Khan to the hospital for medical treatment.
Just 10 minutes after the attack on Khan, MQM activist Maama Shaboo was passing through a street opposite Ayub Goth when he too was gunned down by armed men riding motorcycles. The assailants fled from the scene of the crime after carrying out the attack. He was also rushed to the hospital, but the men who had suffered bullet wounds within minutes of each other, both succumbed to their injuries. Activists of the ANP staged a protest outside the hospital and accused a rival group of carrying out the attack just outside its Sohrab Goth Ward Office. They also demanded the immediate arrest of the assailants.
They also gave information on the other deceased Maama Shaboo. The police said that he was an activist of the MQM and lived on the Isphahani Road. During investigations, it was discovered that the assailants emptied an entire full-auto burst into the victim, who suffered eleven bullet wounds. Following the attack, MQM activists also staged a protest and demanded the immediate arrest of the killers.
The targeted attacks sparked off further violence in the Sohrab Goth area and armed men attacked more people in the Mohajir Chowk area, which lies within the limits of the Mominabad police station. In this incident, four activists of the MQM were injured, out of which three were later pronounced dead.
The deceased were identified as Waqas, Irfan and Adeel, while the injured was identified as Zaheer. The police said that on Wednesday night, the victims were sitting outside an estate agency near the Mohajir Chowk when armed men came in on their motorcycles and opened fire on the victims. The assailants managed to flee after carrying out the deadly assault.
The injured were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where Waqas, Irfan and Adeel succumbed to their injuries during treatment. Upon hearing the news of the death of their fellow party members, MQM leaders and other activists reached the spot and staged a large protest. They accused a rival group of carrying out the attack and urged authorities to bring the killers to justice. After the incident, armed men resorted to aerial firing and closed down a number of shops. Police and Rangers personnel reached the spot and tried to pacify the situation. After facing resistance for hours, the law enforcers managed to take control.
The investigators said that they had received different accounts from eyewitnesses. While some witnesses claimed that the assailants were driving a high-roof van, others said that the attackers used a single motorcycle.
They added that the attackers used 9mm and 30 bore pistols in the attack, which was confirmed from the empties recovered from the scene of the crime. The police termed this as yet another target killing. The victims were activists of the MQM’s Qasba Sector.
Later on at night in the New Town police limits, six people started firing on University Road near the old Sabzi Mandi, during which 45-year-old Saquib Nadeem was shot dead.
Meanwhile, ANP activists reached the spot and a shootout with the armed gunmen ensued. One of the gunmen was injured as a result and he was captured.
