The country’s top military brass on Monday expressed its concern over the ongoing ethnic and political violence in the country’s economic hub where hundreds of people have been killed in this year so far.The military leadership, in the 141st Corps Commanders’ Conference held at General Headquarters with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani in the chair, discussed the security situation in the country in general and in Karachi in particular.
“The participants of the forum expressed concern over the law and order in Karachi and its ramifications on the national economy and expected that the measures recently undertaken by the government would help redress the situation,” an ISPR statement said. A security official requesting anonymity said on the surface it seemed unusual that the corps commanders’ meeting expressed its concern over the security situation in Karachi but the worsening law and order in the country’s financial hub had deeply perturbed General Kayani and his commanders and hence expression of that worry and concern in the shape of a statement at the end of the top army’s forum meeting. The official, however, said the army leadership wanted the government to fully utilise civilian law enforcement agencies for controlling the worsening security situation in Karachi and it did not want the military cadres to indulge in any law and order operation in Pakistan’s most important city. He said army leaders were concerned about Karachi because over 800 people had been killed there so far in the current year including 300 people in the month of July alone as a result of ethnic and political violence. In addition to that over 100 vehicles were also torched in various parts of the city.
