Karachi reels after 51 killed: the largest city of Pakistan stumbled Wednesday after gunmen opened fire in a commercial market, killing 11 people in the latest spasm of violence to underline the poorstate of law and order in this country allied with the United States .
At least 51 people, including several political activists were killed and dozens wounded since Saturday in Karachi, a sprawling port city of more than 16 million people, is prone to political conflicts, ethnic and religious. Many killings in Karachi have been linked to gang allegedly controlled by political parties.
The attack occurred Tuesday evening on the market and its victims, including eight Pakistani origin Baluch said Sharmila Farooqi, a spokesman for the provincial government. The wave of violence in the city coincided with Sunday's election to replace an MLA killed in August.
Because of its status as the main economic hub of the country, keeping his composure Karachi is of prime importance to the Pakistani leaders who have seen flying alongside the criminal activity conducted by the Taliban militant Islamist violence.
Much importance of supply for U.S. troops and NATO is delivered to the city before going overland to Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan.
Farooqi said the police had arrested 55 suspects in the latest violence, and some were linked to local political parties. Security forces patrolled the city to prevent further violence on Wednesday, she said.
The two parties most associated with violence in Karachi - the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party - have their constituencies in different ethnic groups that make up a significant proportion of the population of the city.
The MQM claims to represent the descendants of Urdu-speaking people who came to Karachi from India shortly after the birth of Pakistan in 1947. It is secular and likes to speak out against the "Talibanization" supposedly of the city, a blow to the Awami National Party, which represents the heart of the Pashtun Taliban in the northwest.
Haider Raza, the member of provincial assembly who was shot in August, was a prominent member of the MQM.
Both parties were competing for the vacant seat of Haider, but the PNA announced Saturday it would boycott the elections, saying the MQM platform would be voting. The MQM won the seat.
MQM Haider Abbas Rizvi legislator said that the party had given authorities a list of 150 alleged criminals he suspects in the attacks, but nothing had come of it. He not only accused the PNA, but also criticized the Pakistan People's Party, which controls the provincial government.
ANP spokesman Amin Khattak said the MQM was to blame, noting that the killings began shortly after his party said it would boycott the elections.
Also Wednesday, a policeman was injured when someone threw a grenade at a checkpoint on the outskirts of the city's north-west Pakistan main Peshawar, said Liaquat Ali, a police official. Peshawar is located on the edge of the tribal belt of Pakistan, a lawless stretch of territory along the Afghan border where many activists away.