Pakistani politicians, industrialists and citizens stepped up calls Tuesday for the army to intervene to quell violence destabilising Karachi, where more than 100 have been killed in a week.
“We demand the armed forces take over the city, restore law and order and ensure safety to innocent people’s lives,” Khalid Tawab, vice president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), told AFP.
“Business activity has been disrupted because of incessant killing. People don’t want to go to market because of risks to life,” he said.
Ethnic and criminal violence blamed on gangs has killed 101 people in the last week, the latest bout in the worst criminal and ethnic violence to hit Pakistan’s largest city and financial capital for 16 years.
“At least nine people were killed since Monday evening, so far 101 people have been killed since Wednesday morning,” a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.
Security officials said they had found the bodies of victims who had been kidnapped and tortured, stuffed into sacks and thrown on the streets with notes warning of more violence.
Two bodies trussed up in gunny bags, bearing torture marks and gun shots, were found dumped in Pak Colony and at Orangi Town’s Qasba Mor on Tuesday.
Separately, a resident of the Marwari Lane was kidnapped, shot at, and thrown in the Lyari river. He was shifted to the Civil Hospital subsequently.
In another incident, two people were injured when their car came under attack by unknown gunmen in the city’s Gulastan-i-Johar area.
A government official working in the health department confirmed the casualties.
On Tuesday, markets were closed, streets deserted and attendance at offices thin after the MQM called for a “day of mourning” against the killings.
The associations of transporters, wholesale and retail markets and fuel stations on Monday evening announced one by one that they would stay away from regular business on Tuesday, blaming police and security administration for failing to protect their businesses in such a situation.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday flew to Karachi and asked the provincial government to restore peace as quickly as possible.
Sharjeel Memon, Sindh provincial information minister, said a “surgical operation” was planned to end the violence.
The main ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which was elected in 2008 after nine years of military rule, insists that civilian authorities are capable of controlling the situation.
But members of other political parties are increasingly calling for army intervention, a sensitive issue in a country that has been ruled for more than half its existence by the military.
“We want to see law and order in Karachi improve. Anyone, including the army, who can get results and improve the situation should take control,” Wasay Jaleel, a spokesman for MQM, told AFP.
“We demand the army across the board to restore peace here,” ANP’s provincial chief Shahi Syed told AFP on Tuesday.
People on the streets also expressed dissatisfaction with the ability of the police and the paramilitaries, technically answerable to the interior ministry, to control the situation.
“The armed forces should be deployed in Karachi, because police and paramilitaries have failed to save our lives,” said Khalid Ali, 45, a shopkeeper in the main downtown market area that has seen some violence.
“We feel no enthusiasm for the coming Eid (religious festival). Please, soldiers take the city in their hands and return smiles to our children,” Noshaba Hameed, 37, a schoolteacher, told AFP by telephone from the east.
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