KARACHI: At least 17 people were killed over the weekend in Karachi as part of the worst criminal and ethnic violence to hit Karachi, officials said Sunday.
"At least 11 people have been killed in targeted attacks since 9:00 am on Saturday," a senior police official told AFP by telephone.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the Lyari slum, a stronghold of the ruling Pakistan People's Party, was tense as violence forced markets and commercial centres to close.
Another official confirmed the casualties and said the bodies of six other kidnapped victims were found dumped in different neighbourhoods on Sunday.
Criminal gangs involved in extortion were now resorting to abductions and dumping the bodies of their victims to "spread panic" in the city, he told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
On Saturday, officials said 65 people had been killed since last Wednesday.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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