[DAWN] Gunmen on cycle of violences Sunday rubbed out eight people including an eight-year-old girl at a faith healer's house in the port city of Bloody Karachi...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, police and doctors said.
At least 16 others were also maimed in the shooting at Baldia Town, a low-income Karachi neighbourhood, as dozens of people waited for their turn to see the faith healer.
"Six gunnies on three cycle of violences stormed into the house and started indiscriminate firing," senior police official Irfan Baloch told AFP.
He added that the dead included an eight-year-old girl and her father.
The assailants fired 9mm pistols, a weapon used in a spate of assassinations in the restive city, he added.
No group has yet grabbed credit for the attack.
Faith healer Pir Meharban Shah, who provides spiritual healing services, received a bullet wound to his abdomen and said he had not received any threats prior to the attack.
There was a power outage in the area when the attackers entered the house shortly after dark and started firing, he added.
Doctor Aftab Chanarh at Karachi's state-run Civil Hospital confirmed the casualties.
Karachi, Pakistain's largest city with 18 million people, has been plagued by sectarian, ethnic and political violence for years.
Rangers are currently taking part in a joint operation with police in Karachi aimed at cleansing the city of bully boyz and other hardcore criminals, including hired killers, gun runners and drug peddlers.