A fresh wave of violence blamed on political and ethnic tensions killed at least 12 people in Pakistan’s biggest city of Karachi overnight, officials said Tuesday.
Tensions are high between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP), which represent different ethnic communities and straddle volatile political fault lines. Killings have been blamed on their loyalists.
“At least 12 people were killed in targeted killings, which started Monday evening and lasted late in the night,” Sindh province’s home ministry spokesman Sharfuddin Memon told AFP.
Memon said police and paramilitary troops were stepping up patrols in the troubled western and central neighbourhoods to avert further violence.
Among the dead was an MQM activist in Aligarh Bazaar area and local lawyer Zia Alam, a member of the main ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
