Authorities called in paramilitary soldiers and police to quell political and criminal violence in Pakistan's largest city on Tuesday after 34 people were killed here in less that two days, officials said.
Police have found bodies scattered across different parts of the city since Monday morning, some riddled with bullets and others that showed signs of torture and were tied up in gunny sacks, said Sharufuddin Memon, the security adviser to the chief minister of Sindh province.
Karachi, which is the capital of Sindh, has a long history of political, ethnic and sectarian violence, and much of the fighting is blamed on gangs allegedly affiliated with the city's main political parties.
"There are political rivalries in the city, but criminal elements like drug and land mafias capitalise on the situation, making the things worse," Memon said.
He said that 11 people were gunned down on Tuesday, and 23 were killed the day before. The killings fit into a broader pattern of violence in Karachi that claimed the lives of more than 300 people in July, he said.
In an attempt to contain the violence, authorities have called in 1,000 paramilitary troops from the Frontier Corps and also police from the Frontier Constabulary, Memon said.
The recent bout of violence followed a decision in late June by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, the city's most powerful political party, to leave the federal coalition led by the Pakistan People's Party and join the opposition.
Fighting intensified in mid-July after Zulfiqar Mirza, a senior member of the People's Party, lashed out at the head of the MQM. Mirza called Altaf Hussain a murderer and an extortionist and also maligned the city's Urdu-speaking community that makes up the party's base – although he later apologised.
A large number of MQM's supporters are Urdu-speaking descendants of those people who came to Karachi from India soon after the birth of Pakistan in 1947. The party dominates politics in urban areas of Sindh, including Karachi, but over time it has seen challenges to its power from the People's Party and the Awami National Party, a Pashtun nationalist party.
There were at least 490 political, ethnic and sectarian killings in Karachi during the first half of the year, and more than 1,100 killings of all kinds, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Also on Tuesday, a suspected U.S. drone fired two missiles at a car near the Afghan border, killing four alleged militants, said Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.
The strike took place in Kutab Khel village near Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area, the officials said. The area has a mix of both Afghan and Pakistani Taliban fighters, as well as other foreign militants, they said.
The U.S. refuses to acknowledge the covert CIA drone program in Pakistan publicly, but officials have said privately that the strikes have killed senior Taliban and al-Qaeda commanders.
Also in the northwest, a roadside bomb killed two Pakistani soldiers near Ladha town in the South Waziristan tribal area, said intelligence officials on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media.
South Waziristan was the main sanctuary for the Pakistani Taliban before the army launched a large ground offensive in 2009. Thousands of soldiers are still based in the area, and violence still occurs frequently.
In an attempt to contain the violence, authorities have called in 1,000 paramilitary troops from the Frontier Corps and also police from the Frontier Constabulary, Memon said.
The recent bout of violence followed a decision in late June by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, the city's most powerful political party, to leave the federal coalition led by the Pakistan People's Party and join the opposition.
Fighting intensified in mid-July after Zulfiqar Mirza, a senior member of the People's Party, lashed out at the head of the MQM. Mirza called Altaf Hussain a murderer and an extortionist and also maligned the city's Urdu-speaking community that makes up the party's base – although he later apologised.
A large number of MQM's supporters are Urdu-speaking descendants of those people who came to Karachi from India soon after the birth of Pakistan in 1947. The party dominates politics in urban areas of Sindh, including Karachi, but over time it has seen challenges to its power from the People's Party and the Awami National Party, a Pashtun nationalist party.
There were at least 490 political, ethnic and sectarian killings in Karachi during the first half of the year, and more than 1,100 killings of all kinds, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Also on Tuesday, a suspected U.S. drone fired two missiles at a car near the Afghan border, killing four alleged militants, said Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.
The strike took place in Kutab Khel village near Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area, the officials said. The area has a mix of both Afghan and Pakistani Taliban fighters, as well as other foreign militants, they said.
The U.S. refuses to acknowledge the covert CIA drone program in Pakistan publicly, but officials have said privately that the strikes have killed senior Taliban and al-Qaeda commanders.
Also in the northwest, a roadside bomb killed two Pakistani soldiers near Ladha town in the South Waziristan tribal area, said intelligence officials on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media.
South Waziristan was the main sanctuary for the Pakistani Taliban before the army launched a large ground offensive in 2009. Thousands of soldiers are still based in the area, and violence still occurs frequently.
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