Lyari into a battlefield on Monday as petrol bombs, hand grenades and rockets rained down on law enforcers when they tried to move into the town to control the worsening law and order situation.
For the third consecutive day, the situation in Lyari remained volatile, as seven people, including a leader of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), were shot dead and more than 30 others suffered injuries in clashes between protesters and law enforcement agencies (LEAs).
The clashes were in reaction to yesterday’s killing of a notorious activist of the banned People’s Amn Committee (PAC) by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) officials.
Tension prevailed in other Baloch-dominated areas including Teen Hatti, Old Golimar, Ilyas Goth, Mawach Goth and Baloch Para, where miscreants restored to heavy aerial firing, suspending all commercial activities.
Following search operations in Lyari, several protest assemblies have been witnessed in various parts of the town including Ath Chowk, Cheel Chowk, Lea Market, Salar Compound and Yadgar Chowk.
The protesters, including PAC activists, burnt tyres and blocked all major arteries for vehicular traffic. They resorted to indiscriminate firing, suspending all routine and commercial activities in the area.
In Lea Market and Ath Chowk, when police resorted to aerial firing and teargas shelling to disperse the protesters, the law enforcers were attacked with gunfire and petrol bombs.
As the LEAs moved armoured personnel carriers in Lyari to maintain the worsening law and order situation, the police were greeted by rockets, hand grenades and Molotov Cocktails.
Three police officers were reported to have been seriously wounded in the attacks.
Police said a local leader of PPP named Hasan Soomro, son of Ali Nawaz Soomro, was sprayed with bullets by unidentified armed men outside his residence in Noorani Mohalla, Bakra Peeri within the limits of Kalakot police station.
Hasan was the PPP Lyari vice president. He was taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), where doctors pronounced his death. After medico-legal formalities, the body was handed over to his brother.
Police claimed that 30 bore and 9mm shells were found at the spot. No case was registered until the filing of this report.
Another man, identified as Haq Nawaz, was fatally shot in the limits of Kalakot police station. Police said the victim sustained two bullets on his upper torso.
Two people, identified as Ali, 25, and Muhammad Shoaib, 28, were also shot dead in the Lee Market area. The bullet-riddled body of an unidentified youth was recovered in the Khadda Market within the jurisdictions of the Baghdadi police station.
Two more men, named Zakir, 28, and Qasam, 30, lost their lives in separate incidents in Lyari.
Talking with Pakistan Today, Superintendent of Police Nasir Aftab said the law enforcers were attacked during clashes between protesters and the LEAs.
Three policemen sustained serious bullet injuries when some unidentified men fired rockets at them as they baton-charged and tear gassed the protesters.
“Within a just short span of 20 minutes, the LEAs were attacked 19 times with rockets, petrol bombs and hand grenades.
Four people were killed and 28 others injured in clashes between the armed protesters and the police, he admitted.
He said there could have been more casualties during the clashes. “The LEAs will carry on the targeted operations in the town until the criminal network collapses,” he added.
