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| India-Pakistan |
| Security forces step up patrols in Karachi |
| 2010-10-22 |
| [Dawn] Police and paramilitary units stepped up patrols on Thursday in parts of Pakistain's largest city of Karachi in an effort to quell politically motivated killings that have killed scores. The teeming city of 16 million is the country's economic capital, home to its stock exchange and an Arabian Sea port where Nato supplies dock ready to be trucked overland to support the US-led war effort in Afghanistan. The violence, which rival coalition partners blame on each other, has sent shockwaves through the weak central government ahead of strategic talks with the United States and as it battles to contain the fallout of massive floods. Members of the Rangers paramilitary and police were patrolling Layari, a low-income southern neighbourhood and other sensitive areas where the violence has been concentrated, police said. Much of the city shut down on Wednesday to protest against the killings but an AFP news hound said businesses and schools had re-opened despite another two killings overnight. "Two more people were killed in shooting incidents overnight," Karachi police chief Fayyaz Leghari told AFP. "Extra police and Rangers have been deployed in sensitive areas of the city to prevent further untoward incidents," Leghari said. Waqar Mehdi, a special adviser to the Sindh chief minister, said more than 70 people had been killed in different parts of the city since Saturday. "The corpse count has risen to 72 but situation is returning to normal," Mehdi told AFP. |
| Posted by:Fred |