62 killed as violence grips Karachi

At least 62 people were killed, with several others injured in ongoing violence across Karachi after assassination of the MQM MP Raza Haider. Meanwhile, Karachi police on Wednesday released the sketches of suspects involved in the assassination of MQM MPA Raza Haider. Streets in the city of over 15 million inhabitants remain deserted as the southern Sindh province is mourning the death of Raza Haider who was assassinated along with his bodyguard on Monday evening. His death triggered violence across the major urban centers of province that left 80 people dead and more than 300 others wounded. Over 100 vehicles were torched, including 11 trucks on Wednesday morning. As many as 96 vehicles set ablaze in different areas of Karachi. All the education institutions also remained in Karachi. Firing still continue in different neighborhoods of Karachi as the day progressed in the troubled city. According to sources, at least 23 people have been killed in the latest incidents while several others got injuries. Six people have been killed in separate incidents of firing in different areas of Orangi and Korangi towns. Some of the gas stations that reopened after an impasse of day were crowded with long lines of vehicles waiting refueling whereas shops and all commercial centers remained closed on the second day of mourning announced by the aggrieved political party MQM. However, traffic remained extremely thin. Rangers initiated a search operation and managed to arrest suspects from the flats located on Abul Hassan Ifsahani road. On the other side, the police has claimed to arrest 30 people involved in disturbing peace of the city. The two conflicting parties, MQM and ANP, are still engaged in their non-stop blame game holding each other responsible for murdering activists in target killings, the death toll has risen to over 700 this year. Over 60 deaths in July and 90 deaths in sniper firing in June. Whereas Interior Minister Rehman Malik had passed the buck over the shoulders of disbanded extremist Sunni sectarian organizations Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba. A number of significant arrests of most wanted extremist militants representing various disbanded firebrands during the past year had raised alarm regarding the presence of absconding militants fleeing the northwest tribal areas and taking refuge in Pashtun neighborhoods of Karachi, the fact MQM had been screaming for quite some time. MQM is the second largest party in Sindh with 51 seats in the House of 166 after ruling PPP with 93 seats. ANP holds only two seats. MQM appeared on the mainstream national political scene after a landslide victory in 1988 general elections.