Fresh violence kills 12 in Karachi: Officials
KARACHI: A fresh wave of violence killed at least 12 people in Karachi overnight, officials said Tuesday.
Tensions are high, between different communities and straddle volatile political fault lines. Killings have been blamed on their loyalists.
"At least 12 people were killed in target killings, which started Monday evening and lasted late in the night," Sindh province's home ministry spokesman Sharfuddin Memon told AFP.
Memon said police and paramilitary troops were stepping up patrols in the troubled western and central neighbourhoods to avert further violence.
Among the dead was in Aligarh Bazaar area and local lawyer Zia Alam.
In 2010, political violence in Karachi was the deadliest for years, dominated by flare ups in August and in October.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says 748 people -- 447 political activists and the rest innocent citizens -- were killed in target shootings last year. Target killings in 2009 claimed 272 lives.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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