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| India-Pakistan |
| Two rival groups in Lyari accept talks offer |
| 2010-06-06 |
| [Dawn] KARACHI: An intermittent exchange of fire between rival groups in Lyari — some areas of which also came under mortar attack — kept the strife-ravaged locality in a state of fear for a third consecutive day, said police and area residents. However, compared to the previous two days which saw bloodshed, the situation showed signs of improvement in that frequent exchange of fire and hide-and-seek between armed men and the police did not cause any loss of life on Friday. Two mortar shells fired in the early hours of Friday fell in an open plot of land without causing any major damage. Also, the two rival groups, who had staged a deadly gunbattle in the neighbourhood over a couple of days, agreed to come to the negotiating table with the efforts of political leadership and the administration. An official of the Baghdadi police station said: "At least two mortar shells fired from Ali Mohammad Mohalla landed in a neighbouring plot of an Eidulane residence in the early hours of Friday. No loss of life was reported today. "Hundreds of rounds have been fired from each side. A 20-year-old man, Imam Bukhsh, received a bullet wound and was shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi," he added. The police claimed success as the guns gradually fell silent after the intense firing that continued during the previous two days — resulting in the death of 10 people, including a 12-year-old boy. The officials believed that 'a change in the strategy' by the police high-ups really worked. "We have some 17 APCs [armoured personnel carriers] with nearly 300 policemen deployed in the area since Wednesday," said SSP Khadim Hussain Rind of Lyari Town. "We have changed the strategy and deployed policemen on the affected streets, which cause deterrence against frequent firing and the guns fell silent gradually. Right now there is no firing and life is returning to normality," he said, while speaking to Dawn an hour after sunset. The fresh wave of gang warfare in Lyari started after an armed group — suspected to be associated with Ghaffar Zikri by the police — attacked an office of the People's Peace Committee — a lately formed socio-political group enjoying support of influential individuals and groups — in Singhulane and killed its young members in the early hours of Wednesday. The two congested neighbouring localities of Ali Mohammad Mohalla and Eidulane in Union Council No 6 of Lyari Town remained the worst-affected areas during the standoff, as People's Peace Committee's president Shahid Rahman lives in one and Ghaffar Zikri in the other. Surprisingly, both groups claim to be closer and more loyal to the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and to enjoy support from the ruling party. For many Lyariites, their (both the groups') association with the ruling party seems to be working again to spare those behind the deadly violence from any legal action. "We only want the people to dissociate themselves from criminal elements and come into mainstream politics which means service to their people," said Sardar Nabeel Ahmed Gabol, a state minister and a PPP's parliamentarian from Lyari. Mr Gabol is one of the few leaders after the assassinated prime minister Benazir Bhutto and President Asif Ali Zardari whose portrait was placed outside a PPP office recently set up by Ghaffar Zikri group after parting his ways from the People's Peace Committee. "We will definitely support if the talks between the groups bring peace to the people of Lyari. But the problem is that one of the groups is not ready to move on these lines, which creates law and order situation most of the time," he added. After voicing the same complaints against his rival group, Shahid Rahman of the People's Peace Committee showed his willingness to hold talks with the rivals. He believes: "Each and every problem has a solution in dialogue. And if the same theory works to avert the present crisis, I think there is no harm in it. We hope the situation will show improvement in a day or two |
| Posted by:Fred |