Karachi’s killing fields

The attempt on the life of the Pakistan army’s corps commander, Lt General Ahsan Saleem Hyat — the senior-most military officer in Sindh — which killed 10 people including seven armymen, comes after nearly six weeks of mayhem by terrorists in Karachi alone where over 62 people have been killed since May 1. It is not for nothing that the commercial capital of Pakistan and its main port city acquired the dubious distinction of being described as the “killing fields” more than a decade ago. With a lacklustre military operation going on against the Al-Qaeda in Waziristan by the Pakistan army, the involvement of Al-Qaeda — which has extensive support base in Karachi — cannot be ruled out.

While crime and killings have been a routine affair in all parts of Karachi for two decades, the posh Clifton area seems to have been reserved for more dramatic acts of terrorism and assassination. After all, it was here that a son of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and the brother of the then prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated in broad daylight nearly a decade ago. One would imagine that Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency, the ISI, with its extensive role in the creation of mujahideen and terrorism both to the east and west of Pakistan, not to talk of promoting ethno-sectarian violence in Sindh since 1983, would have kept a close watch on terrorists of all shades and calling.

Coming as it does a few months after the attacks on the Pakistan army chief and president, Pervez Musharraf, the attempt on the life of the corps commander bodes ill for Pakistan’s future stability, especially since it could have been prompted by a desire to pre-empt his possible promotion to the rank of a four-star general. The army has maintained its monopoly over the instruments of violence. But there are signs that all’s not well. There is growing evidence of serving military personnel being increasingly involved in domestic terrorism, including in the suicide attacks on Musharraf himself. It is not clear who was involved in the attempt on the corps commander. But if the “steel frame” of Pakistan composed of its military is rising to kill its own leadership, Pakistan could well be in much deeper trouble than what appears to be the case on the surface.