At Least 120 Killed This Week as Karachi Violence Continues

Residents Scared to Leave Their Homes Amid Random Gunfire

Violence in Karachi continued apace today, with at least 35 more people killed and a large number of others wounded, bringing the overall death toll for the past four days to at least 120.

Today violence was mostly in the western portion of the city, which was also where police were concentrated. People flocked to hospitals to seek treatment as gunmen roamed the streets and motorcyclists lobbed hand grenades at random.

The violence has brought life in the city to a virtual halt. In many neighborhoods residents fear leaving their homes because of the gunfire, and houses are finding food in increasingly short supply.

Though the violence started as largely political in nature, and attackers still seem to be focusing on the neighborhoods of their rival factions, Interior Minister Rehman Malik insists that the vast majority of the slain appear to have no political affiliations whatsoever.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.