Lone MQM minister in Sharif Cabinet resigns

ISLAMABAD, Aug 15: The Muttahida Qaumi Mahaz (formerly called the Mohajir Qaumi Movement) announced here on Friday night that it had deci...

ISLAMABAD, Aug 15: The Muttahida Qaumi Mahaz (formerly called the Mohajir Qaumi Movement) announced here on Friday night that it had decided to pull out of a coalition agreement with the PML-N party of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

While this decision may not affect the government’s standing in the centre, serious questions about the law and order situation in Karachi are being asked.

The lone MQM minister in Sharif’s Cabinet quit under orders of party supremo Altaf Hussain, over the government’s failure to check killings of party workers in trifle-torn Karachi.

The MQM have accused the government’s intelligence agencies to be behind the killings. MQM leaders have alleged that the government agencies have backed their rival MQM Haqiqi faction, which was formed by former MQM members who became disgruntled with the leadership of MQM leader, Altaf Hussain. The MQM said that it was pulling out of its alliance “because the government hasn’t done enough to bring peace in Karachi.”

Meanwhile, in the latestdevelopment, at least 10 people were killed today in battles between security forces and gunmen during a protest strike in the Pakistani port city of Karachi and nearby Hyderabad town, police said.

They said nine people, including three policemen and a 12-year-old boy, were killed in Karachi, the country’s commercial hub and capital of the southern province of Sindh. One police official was shot dead in Hyderabad, another MQM stronghold which was also shut down by the strike, police there said. Security officials said several police and paramilitary ranger checkpoints also came under attack the city.