The new wave of targeted killings and armed attacks in the city left at least 24 people dead and six injured in Karachi. A retired officer of the army’s aviation wing, who was working as a pilot of the chief minister’s helicopter, was among the dead. Major Mudassir Iqbal Kashmiri, in his mid 50s, was targeted near Rabia City when he was returning home in Gulistan-i-Jauhar in his car from the airport. Armed motorcyclists fired multiple shots at the moving vehicle, killing Mr. Kashmiri on the spot. They fired three bullets on his head and chest. An hour later, three armed men on two motorcycles attacked people coming out of a mosque after Friday prayers in Bukhari Colony of Orangi Town, killing 60-year-old Mohammad Yusuf and injuring 15-year-old Naveed. Anonymous gunmen also opened fire on a 35-year-old fruit vendor, Saleem, and a passerby, Barkat Ali, only half a kilometer away from the mosque. They were taken to the Abbassi Shaheed Hospital, where Saleem died of wounds. In Sector 5-D of New Karachi, 30-year-old Zubair Rahim Khan was killed by armed motorcyclists just a few yards away from his home. Mohammad Noor, a 26year-old paan (betel leaf) shop owner, was found shot dead near a hotel in Orangi Town. Armed motorcyclists stopped outside a barber shop in North Nazimabad. One of them carrying a 9m pistol entered the shop and killed 34year-old Naveed, who was waiting for his turn. He was an activist of the pakistan People’s Party, said an official at the Shahrah-i-Noor Jehan police station. An owner of fast food shop was killed outside his home in Korangi’s Chakra Goth. Muhammad Shafiq, 39, was sitting with friends when two men on a motorcycle fired at him from a close range. Wali Khan Babar, a Private news channel GEO news journalist was martyred; he was also victim of target killings in Karachi. Some unidentified men fired at him at point blank in Liaqatabad when he was heading home.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Premier of pakistan Mr. Yusuf Raza Gilani had talked to each other at Lahore on 16th of January, the meeting agenda was to stabilize the situation of Karachi and load shedding of Sui Gas. Mr. Gilani had promised to solve all the on going issues of pakistan. Mr., Redman Mali (Interior Minister) has imposed partial curfews in some areas of Karachi to overcome the desperate situation. The government, on the other hand, blamed “antidemocratic forces” for the fresh violence and said they wanted to destabilize the existing political set-up and take every attempt to achieve the desired results.
