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Troops deployed after 34 killed in Pakistani city

02 August 2011 20:48 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Authorities called in paramilitary soldiers and police to quell political and criminal violence in Pakistan’s largest city Tuesday after 34 people were killed here in less that two days, officials said, APA reports quoting Associated Press.
Violence in Karachi, a sprawling port city of 18 million, has added to the political instability in the nuclear-armed, U.S.-allied nation and provided another distraction for the government as it fights a Taliban-led insurgent movement. It also undercuts Pakistan’s struggling economy, because Karachi serves as the country’s main commercial hub.
Police have found bodies scattered across different parts of the city since Monday morning, some riddled with bullets and others that showed signs of torture and were tied up in gunny sacks, said Sharufuddin Memon, the security adviser to the chief minister of Sindh province.
Karachi, which is the capital of Sindh, has a long history of political, ethnic and sectarian violence, and much of the fighting is blamed on gangs allegedly affiliated with the city’s main political parties.
"There are political rivalries in the city, but criminal elements like drug and land mafias capitalize on the situation, making the things worse," Memon said.
He said that 11 people were gunned down Tuesday, and 23 were killed the day before. The killings fit into a broader pattern of violence in Karachi that claimed the lives of more than 300 people in July, he said.
In an attempt to contain the violence, authorities have called in 1,000 paramilitary troops from the Frontier Corps and also police from the Frontier Constabulary, Memon said.