Bloodbath on in Karachi; 34 killed,60 in four days

34 people were killed in political and ethnic strife over the last 24 hours.

Violence escalated further in Pakistans biggest city where 34 people were killed in political and ethnic strife over the last 24 hours. With rising insecurity among the people,MQM leader Altaf Hussain issued an ultimatum to the countrys leadership to put an end to the bloodbath.

As mayhem continued in Karachi,reports said nearly 60 people have been killed in the city since Friday. Thirty-four people lost their lives over the last 24 hours in the ongoing wave of target killings,including five in overnight shooting incidents, a report in the Express Tribune said.

The worst hit was Surjani Town where unidentified gunmen set on fire few houses,shops and resorted to indiscriminate firing in which two persons were killed and several injured. The police said violence quickly spread to other areas and as many as 20 people were killed in incidents of violence in Orangi,Surjani Town,Pak Colony,Landhi,Gulshan-e-Iqbal,Korangi and other areas.

In one incident,men armed with sophisticated weapons,attacked a factory with more than 1,500 workers trapped inside. They also torched motorbikes while firing constantly.

Security forces,who reached the site almost an hour after the attack could take complete control of the area after an hour. Four other people were also shot dead in separate incidents in the city.

In a statement from London,Muttahida Quami Movement MQM chief Hussain said he was setting a 48-hour deadline before the government,threatening strong public retaliation if the situation was not brought under control. People would take on the task of defending their lives and belongings by taking the law into their own hands, Hussain said. He warned President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani,that the government would be the sole responsible for repercussions if peace was not restored.

MQM lawmaker Wasim Ahmed also accused elements backed by the Sindh government of trying to take over his partys stronghold. We wont let anybody take over Karachi, Ahmed told the National Assembly Monday.