Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot....
remained under siege for a third consecutive day on Sunday with at least four more persons, including a policeman, killed in pitched battles between law-enforcement personnel and heavily armed gangsters.
The day-long violence also left several persons, including two DSPs and as many mediapersons, maimed.
Top leaders of the banned People's Amn Committee decided to become more vocal on Sunday as they contacted several mediapersons on their cellphones and also participated in some television talk shows through a remote video link.
In a related development, Inspector General of Sindh Mushtaq Shah put all other units of the crime investigation department (CID) under the direct command of CID SP Aslam Khan asking them to assist him in the ongoing Lyari operation.
Senior police officials claimed that they regained control of major areas in Lyari. However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt...
PAC leader Zafar Baloch contradicted the police claim, saying they had not been able to take control of even one inch of Lyari.
Some area residents told Dawn that gangsters such as Mullah Nisar and Tajdar alias Taju and their men were still in the area, busy attacking the police. Other gangsters, including Noor Muhammad alias Baba Ladla and Jabbar alias Jingu, were still holding their positions in their respective areas.
On Sunday, gunnies taking positions on rooftops targeted the police and mediapersons present at Cheel Chowk and at the same time a rocket was also fired, which resulted in injuries to coppers and some mediapersons. Eight people, including two cameramen of private television channels, were maimed in the attack.
The maimed were identified as Assistant Sub-Inspector Aleem Niazi, Constables Fayyaz Ahmed, Naveed, Imran, Sajid, cameramen Asif of Express television channel and Arif Ali of Dhoom television, and Kashif, a charity worker.
They were rushed to the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, where Constable Fayyaz died during treatment.
In another incident, a man identified as Kashif, 25, was rubbed out in Nawalane within the remit of the Kalakot cop shoppe. The victim's family member took away the body without completing any medico-legal formalities at the Civil Hospital.
In Afshani Gali, a young man, identified as Asghar, was killed and his father, Yousuf, was maimed when they were hit by bullets fired from unknown directions.
DSP Abdul Razzak and DSP Nawaz were also maimed during an exchange of gunfire in the Nawalane area.
DSP Nasir Lodhi of the Special Police Group claimed that Sajid alias Gabber, a brother-in-law of Baba Ladla, was killed near Gabol Park. However,
a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all...
the whereabouts of his body were not clear, he added.
In another attack, constables Kashif and Khalid and 18-year-old Ghazal were maimed near Nawalane. They were shifted to the Civil Hospital for treatment.
DSP Lodhi said the police faced massive resistance in Lyari and gangster used rockets, light machineguns, hand-grenades and an improvised rocket, invented by the Lyari gangsters.
Meanwhile,
...back at the shattered spaceship, Fffflirgoll the Arcturan slithered stealthily toward the control room, where the humans had barricaded themselves...
the Sindh home department directed the police to intensify the operation in Lyari and arrest eight key Lyari gangsters dead or alive.
Those wanted by the department are Noor Muhammad alias Baba Ladla, Jabbar alias Jingo, Umer Katchi, Tajdar alias Taju, Shahid MCB, Zafar Baloch, Uzair Jan Baloch and Habib Baloch.
Protest rallies
Residents of Lyari took out processions in protest against the police operation and demanded an immediate halt to it.
Protests were held in the Albela Signal, Mauripur Road, Gurumandir, Kalapul and Nishtar Road areas.
The protesters also set on fire flags of the Pakistain People's Party.
The Sindh police chief visited the Civil Hospital on Sunday evening. He said the police would rid Lyari of criminals in the next two to three days.
He said a number of beturbanned goons had been killed in the Lyari operation, but the gangsters were shifting their bodies in private ambulances.
Answering a question, he said the police were in touch with the Rangers and as part of a strategy the paramilitary force had not been called in. "We will seek their help when a need arises," he added.