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1 killed, 12 injured in firing in Karachi, Pakistan

17 August 2011 17:15 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. At least one person was killed and 12 others were injured in a firing that broke out Wednesday evening in Pakistan’s southern port city Karachi, reported local media.

The injured people included five women and a child, said local media reports, adding that a car and a rickshaw were also destroyed in the firing.

According to the local media reports, the firing took place about 6:00 p.m. local time when a series of blasts were first heard in the Bhempura area of the city, followed by fierce firing.

Local Urdu TV channel Geo said three to five rockets were fired into the area from unknown directions while most of the other media reported that they were handgrenade blasts and five handgrenade blasts were heard in the area.

Initial news coming in that it was a clash between two groups, however, they failed to mention the names of the groups.

There are two main rivals in Karachi. One is Muttahida Quaimi Movement (MQM), a political group representing the Urdu speaking people immigrating from India when Pakistan got independence in 1947, the other is Awami National Party (ANP) which represents the Pashtun speaking ethnic group from the northwest and southwest of the country.

The two groups are in constant clashes between each other either for political interests or for business interests. In July alone, the clashes between the two old rivals reportedly claimed hundreds of lives.