Lyari remained in the grip of fear and tension on Tuesday amidst the ongoing “politically motivated” gang war as five people, including a man working for a private TV channel, were killed and over a dozen kidnapped by unidentified culprits. An armed clash erupted between two politically affiliated gangs of Lyari in the wee hours when gangsters brazenly took to the roads with heavy weapons, including Kalashnikovs, machine guns, hand grenades and rocket launchers, and attacked their rivals’ hideouts. “These terrorists are being supported by two political parties and no one is able to curb the armed culprits’ movement,” said a local. He said, “Security forces have failed to maintain law and order in Lyari.” In the initial stage of the armed clash, unidentified culprits opened fire on some people sitting in front of their houses, killing one of them on the spot, whereas three others suffered bullet injuries. The deceased, Abdul Rehman, and three injured were shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK). Rehman worked as the director of a private TV channel. Two others, Ilahi Bakhsh and Jaffer Ramzan, were killed on their way home as a result of gangsters’ intermittent firing. Their bodies were shifted to the CHK. Another two lost their lives due to aerial firing during the afternoon, but the identities of the deceased could not be ascertained until the filing of this report. Their bodies were shifted to the CHK. Later, dozens of people of Lyari came out on the Mauripur Road to protest the poor law and order situation and killings in their area. They blocked the road and staged a sit-in for more than two hours, which resulted in suspension of all vehicular traffic during that time.
