A paramilitary soldier frisks a motorcyclist on a street in Karachi.
KARACHI: The death toll in a fresh wave of violence blamed on political and ethnic tensions in Karachi rose to at least 20 on Wednesday, an official said.
“The death toll has risen to 20 with eight more targeted killings overnight in different areas of Karachi,” provincial home ministry spokesman Sharfuddin Memon told AFP.
The violence erupted Monday. The government in Sindh province said it had stepped up police and paramilitary patrols in the troubled western and central neighbourhoods to avert further killings.
Memon gave no specific reason for the renewed violence in Karachi but analysts believe conflicting interests of political forces and poor governance trigger routine flare-ups.
“Karachi is a big city where crime and corruption is rampant and targeted killings is convenient cover for criminal mafia to continue their activities,” analyst Imtiaz Gul told AFP.
“While political parties fight to retain their clout in the city, criminal gangs, involved in organised crimes take advantage of the situation.”
In 2010, political violence in Karachi was dominated by flare-ups in August after a lawmaker from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was shot dead and in October on the eve of the election for his successor.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 748 people — 447 political activists and the rest civilians — were killed in targeted shootings in the city last year. Targeted killings in 2009 claimed 272 lives.