—File Photo.

KARACHI: At least three policemen were killed in an attack on a police vehicle in the Patel Para area of Karachi on Sunday morning.

The Superintendent of Police at Jamshed Town told media personnel that unknown assailants sprayed bullets on a police mobile vehicle.

Moreover, he said the attack appeared to be pre-planned.

Police subsequently cordoned off the area and investigations into the incident went underway.

The three policemen killed in the line of duty belonged to Jamshed Town police station and were standing guard outside a local hospital when attackers targeted them.

—File Photo.

KARACHI: Three friends — two associated with the Awami National Party (ANP) and one with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) — were killed in an armed attack near Lasbella Chowk on Saturday, police said.

The police said two men on a motorbike targeted Mukhtar Rasool, Naveed Ahmed and Mohammad Sarfaraz while they were sitting at the corner of a street along the commercial area close to the Lasbella traffic intersection. One of the attackers reportedly pulled out a pistol and fired a number of shots at the victims before riding away with his aide.

“The attacker used a 9mm pistol,” said Inspector Yousuf Jamal, the SHO of the Jamshed Town police station. “Two of the victims – Naveed Ahmed and Muhammad Sarfaraz – were associated with the ANP while Mukhtar Rasool was a PTI activist. The motive behind the attack is not yet clear and we are still in the process to reach a conclusion that who was the actual target of the attack.”

Tension gripped the locality after the incident and other adjoining areas as traders pulled down shutters and vehicles started disappearing from the roads. The bodies were later moved to the Civil Hospital Karachi for medico-legal formalities.

SI shot dead
In Qasba Colony, a police sub-inspector was gunned down when he was riding to his workplace. The area police said that armed men on a motorbike intercepted 45-year-old Mohammad Sher Khan near Qasba Mor and fired multiple shots at him.

“He sustained nine bullet wounds in the chest and head and died on the spot,” said an official at the Pirabad police station.

“He was posted at the Iqbal Market police station and lived in Islamia Colony, near the site of the incident. He originally hailed from Sargodha and was father of five.”

The body was later handed over to the family after medico-legal formalities at the Abbassi Shaheed Hospital, but the police remained clueless to reason and people behind the fatal attack.

“The exact motive is not yet clear but we have reasons to believe his professional association as key reason behind this attack. As you know that several policemen particular in this district have met with the same fate and the fresh incident seems to be part of the same trend,” added the official.

Violence in Lyari
Violence broke out in parts of Lyari on Saturday after the killing of a suspected gangster in an alleged shootout with Rangers that also left his aide wounded.

Officials said that in a joint raid the Rangers personnel with area police were taking position in Singo Lane when they came under attack.

“The Rangers personnel responded and in an exchange of fire, two of the suspects sustained bullet wounds,” said a spokesman for the Pakistan Rangers, Sindh. “One of the wounded suspects, Fahim Khusha, later died while being treated at the Civil Hospital. The other one, Aqeel, was being treated at the same facility.”

Rangers officials claimed to have seized an LMG, a rocket launcher, five assault AK-47 rifles, two pistols and two bullet-proof jackets in the raid.

Minutes after the Rangers and police completed their job, violence broke out in parts of Lyari, where heavy arms, hand-grenades and rockets were freely used. Though no casualty was reported in the post-operation episode, the brazen use of heavy arms sowed fear and paralysed life in the densely-populated locality.

“It’s in fact reaction of the criminals to the Rangers action that killed their man and led to the arrest of one of them,” said SP-Lyari Najam Khan Tareen. “We have enhanced patrolling and deployed additional force in the affected pockets of the town. So far, no arrest has been made but we have controlled the situation.”

A security official stands alert to avoid any untoward incident while the road gives a desert look during a strike called by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. — Photo by PPI

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is observing a day of mourning today to protest against the killings of its three party workers in Malir.

The MQM’s  Rabita (Coordination) Committee appealed for a closure of transport, schools, shops and business activities across Sindh.

The traders, transporters and fuel stations associations unanimously announced that they would stay away from their businesses for both support and ‘security’ reasons. The Karachi Transport Ittehad announced that all public transport in Karachi would remain off the road on Thursday.

While no government announcement was made about the closure of schools and colleges in the city, representative associations of private schools announced that their institution would remain shut today. The Board of Intermediate Education, Karachi, postponed its papers that were to be held today. These papers will now be held on Friday (June 7). The timings and examination centres will remain unchanged.

Earlier, according to police, three young factory workers were kidnapped and shot dead on Wednesday while another man was critically wounded in Khokhrapar.

While the Sindh government constituted a team of senior police officers led by the DIG east to probe the killing of the three factory workers, MQM activists and leaders carrying coffins staged a sit-in outside the Chief Minister House and demanded action against the banned Peoples Amn Committee.

The police said the four factory workers as a matter of routine were on their way in a bus (T-0361) to a textile mill in Korangi from their residences in Khokhrapar when several gunmen intercepted the vehicle near Malok Hotel and took away the four workers at gunpoint on Wednesday morning.

The police investigators suspected that the killings might be the result of a brawl among the factory workers a few days ago.

MQM’s Haider Abbas Rizvi told a press conference on Wednesday that ‘terrorists of banned People’s Amn Committee’ were responsible for the killings and that ‘they are being used for ethnic cleansing of Mohajirs’.

Accompanied by MQM leader Wasay Jalil and others, Mr Rizvi said on the one hand ‘terrorists of the Amn Committee’ had been given a free hand to extort money, kidnap people for ransom, kill MQM workers, and on the other hand ‘innocent MQM workers’ were being illegally detained and no institution was willing to tell who was responsible for their disappearance.

He urged newly-elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take notice of the killing of the MQM workers and supporters and provide protection to the people of Karachi from gangsters.

—File Photo.

KARACHI: Police on Monday recovered four dead bodies from Jam Goth in the Malir area of Karachi who were gunned down after being abducted, DawnNews reported.

According to the police, the deceased persons were kidnapped from Karachi’s Landhi area on their way to work in the early hours of Wednesday. All four were employers at a private denim company.

The bodies were shifted to Jinnah Hospital’s emergency and accident ward. Due to the ongoing strike observed by doctors, the deceased could not be shifted to the hospital’s mortuary deterring police personnel from launching criminal investigation into the incident.

—File Photo.

KARACHI: At least eight people were killed in separate firing incidents in Karachi on Monday, DawnNews reported.

A member of a political party was killed in a gun firing incident in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Johar area, whereas a policeman was also injured in the attack. Panic and fear spread in the area and markets and shops were closed down in the vicinity.

Two persons were gunned down in separate incidents near Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and the airport.

One person was also killed near Denso Hall on MA Jinnah road.

Moreover, one person was shot dead in Orangi Town’s Frontier Colony.

Meanwhile, three persons were killed in separate firing incidents in Nazimabad, Orangi Town and Iqbal Market respectively.

Breaking News.

KARACHI: An explosion occurred in Karachi’s New Nazimabad on Saturday, DawnNews reported.

According to sources, the blast took place near the New Nazimabad gate; however, the police said that the exact nature of the blast is yet to be ascertained.

Moreover, at least two Rangers personnel were killed in an attack on a check-post in Karachi’s Manghopir area on Saturday. According to the police, it was a suicide attack.

Later, another bomb blast took place in Mangophir. Orangi Town’s SP official said the exact nature of the blast is being determined.

In a separate incident in Mangophir, firing is ongoing between police, Rangers personnel and gunmen due to which fear and panic have spread among those in the area.

Security officials and residents are seen through the shattered windscreen of a damaged vehicle at the site of a bomb attack in Karachi May 11, 2013. — Photo by Reuters

KARACHI:At least 13 people were killed and several others injured in two blasts in Karachi’s Quaidabad and Qasba areas on election day, which was also marred by allegations of rigging, mismanagement and delays at several polling stations in the city.

The Jamaat-i-Islami announced a boycott of the elections in Karachi and Hyderabad over alleged rigging of elections  and use of violence and force against its party workers.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) also held a press conference and alleged that elections were being rigged under a planned conspiracy in Karachi.

Moreover reports of delays in the voting process were reported from several polling stations in different areas of the city including Nazimabad, Malir, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, some phases of Defence Housing Authority and Manghopir.

An election candidate, Ali Akbar Gujjar,  was also arrested by police in Karachi’s Shaheed-i-Millat road for allegedly confiscating a ballot box at a polling station in the area.

Some political party activists resorted to violence and sloganeering near the polling station after which voting was stopped at the polling station.

Blasts

At least two persons were killed and several others were injured in the explosion in a bus in Karachi’s Qasba No 2-1/2 area, according to police sources.

The victims were rushed to a nearby hospital.

Earlier during the day 11 people were killed and 50 others were injured in an explosion in Karachi’s Quaidabad area.

The explosion occurred near the polling station of Quaidabad.

Moreover, the blast damaged the windowpanes of the several buildings and destroyed eight shops.

Earlier, Awami National Party (ANP) leader, Zahid Khan said that 20 people had been injured in the blast.

The bomb targeted a candidate seeking election to the Sindh provincial assembly for the Awami National Party (ANP).

“The condition of several injured is critical,” said doctor Semi Jamali, head of the emergency department at Jinnah Hospital in Karachi.

The target, Amanullah Mehsud, escaped unhurt, senior police official Mazhar Nawaz said. Another police official, Tahir Naveed, confirmed the attack.

Soon after the attack, chief Altaf Hussain condemned the attack and said that it was nothing but terrorism against ANP.

The election marks the first democratic transition of power in the nuclear-armed state but the run-up to the polls has been marred by attacks that have killed at least 130 people since mid-April, according to an AFP toll.

Many of them were claimed by Pakistan’s umbrella Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) insurgent group.

“To revolt against this system, the TTP have planned several actions on May 11, so we appeal to the people to stay away from polling stations to save their lives,” Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said on the eve of the vote.

More than 600,000 security personnel are being deployed nationwide and around half the estimated 70,000 polling stations have been declared at risk of attack, many of them in insurgency-torn parts of Balochistan province and the northwest.

-File Photo

KARACHI: Three people have been killed in a firing incident at Landhi, DawnNews reported.

One of the dead is reported to be Orangi Town’s independent candidate for PS95 Shakil Ahmed.

He had received support from the Muhajir Quami Movement-Haqiqi in the upcoming elections. The incident occurred after intense firing between two groups in the area.

“We have received three dead bodies, including that of Shakil Ahmed,” said Doctor Semi Jamali, head of the emergency department at Jinnah Hospital, AFP reported

“Unknown gunmen opened fire on Shakil Ahmed and he along with two other supporters were killed on the spot. They were in the Landhi area of Karachi for an election meeting,” AFP reported Khalid Hamid, a spokesman for the MQM-H as saying.

Shops and businesses have been shutdown in the area after the incident. The injured have been taken to the hospital. Police and rangers have reached the area and cordoned it off.

Meanwhile, PS125 candidate from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is reported to have gone missing. PPP workers have reached the local police station in large numbers.

The missing man’s mobile phone is also reported to be off.

-File Photo

KARACHI: At least five people were killed including three women and a child in a firing incident in Karachi’s Oorangi Town area on Saturday, DawnNews reported.

According to Superintendent Police (SP) Orangi Chaudhry Assad, bullet riddled bodies of five people were found at a house in Faridabad Colony, area of Oorangi Town.

Initial reports suggest that it was a case of personal enmity, said police

The bodies were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and police started their investigation.

The incident has created fared in the locality and large number of people had gathered at the site of the incident.