[Dawn] An activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement was killed and six others were injured when armed men attacked its office in Gulistan-i-Jauhar here on Friday night. The incident sparked violence in the area and minutes later a bus was set on fire. Uninterrupted firing forced traders to pull down shutters and residents to stay indoors.
Parts of Gulshan-i-Iqbal were affected by the firing and main business centres on Rashid Minhas and Abdul Hasan Ispahani roads were closed.
MQM chief Altaf Hussain condemned the attack and demanded the arrest of the assailants.
"It's not clear but early reports suggested that four to six armed men were involved in the attack on the MQM office in Gulistan-i-Jauhar's Block 17," said an officer at the Sharea Faisal police station.
He said that about half a dozen people were injured who had been taken to different hospitals.
One of them died at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
Witnesses said the attackers came in a car.
"Our worker Rizwan Shah was killed while five other members of the party and a supporter were injured and they are being treated at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Liaquat National Hospital and Aga Khan University Hospital," said Wasay Jalil of the MQM.
He said Azhar Ali, a unit in-charge of the area, was among the injured. He said the MQM chief had appealed to the workers to stay calm.
The incident emerged as a fresh source of tension between the MQM and Awami National Party.
Though the MQM chief asked workers and supporters to stay calm, the deputy parliamentary leader of the party in the National Assembly, Haider Abbas Rizvi, blamed ANP workers for the attack on the unit office.
"There was a lot of people present at the unit office when it was attacked," he said.
"They recognised armed ANP men attacking the office and we believe it's a reaction to the MQM's support for the government's anti-encroachment campaign that led to recovery of 1,800 acres of land."