Karachi: Violence continued unabated in Pakistan's biggest city with 17 more people including a woman killed on Monday in sectarian and ethnic attacks.
The worst hit place from the violence was Surjani Town where unidentified gunmen set on fire few houses, shops and resorted to indiscriminate firing in which one person was killed.
Unidentified armed men in these areas forced residents to evacuate their homes, while the police escorted most of the residents to other places.
Firing was also reported from other parts of the city in which there were more casualties while miscreants also set on fire eight vehicles.
Five people including two policemen were also injured in the firing incidents. The violence-affected areas also included Khuda Ki Basti, Pak Colony and Soldier Bazaar.
Earlier in the day, unknown gunmen broke into a house and killed two people including a woman in Baldia Town. Two bodies were found tied up in sacks on Mianwali Colony roadside, whereas, police said that deceased were first shot and then put in sacks.
Police officials said most of the killings were related to ethnic and religious disputes between different groups.
Forty two people have been killed in the violence since Friday night.
Around 200 people were killed in the city in July alone, one of the deadliest months in about two decades.
"There is no question about the fact that the violence is politically and ethnically motivated, so the solution has to be political too," said a senior police official on the condition of anonymity.
"We have seen a peace initiative from the government as well as the political parties. But I think the stakeholders need to be more sincere in their efforts to restore peace."
A recent report from the HRCP said 1,138 people were killed in Karachi in the first six months of 2011, of whom 490 were victims of political, ethnic and sectarian violence. In another statement issued today, the HRCP called for a political solution to the violence in Karachi.
"Karachi is in the grip of a multi-sided wave of insecurity-driven political, ethnic and sectarian polarization that has greatly undermined its tradition of tolerance and good-neighbourliness," it said.
"While gangs of land-grabbers and mafias have tried to exploit the breakdown of law and order, they do not appear to be the main directors of the horrible game of death and destruction; that distinction belongs to more powerful political groups and it is they who hold the key to peace."
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