Karachi 'shoot on sight' orders

8 July 2011 Last updated at 12:07 GMT Violence has raged in Karachi for three days Security forces in the Pakistani city of Karachi have been ordered to shoot on sight to stem violence in which 80 people have been killed since Tuesday.

The violence is widely blamed on armed gangs from rival political parties.

Pakistan's biggest city is virtually shut down. Many shops, schools and offices are closed and there is hardly any traffic on the streets.

Most people are staying at home fearing more violence. The government says it has deployed an extra 1,000 troops.

Continue reading the main story Shahzeb Jillani BBC News, Karachi

Karachi is arguably one of South Asia's most violent cities. It is not only the largest city and port of Pakistan, but also a major industrial and commercial centre.

The city is plagued by extortion rackets, land-grab mafia and armed groups fighting turf wars for their share of its resources.

The level of violence this week has not been seen for some time. Targeted killings and drive-by shootings are widely blamed on armed gangs linked to the city's main political parties.

There were always fears that with last week's resignation from the government by the city's main political party - the MQM - increased violence and instability would bring Pakistan's economic capital to a grinding halt.

Karachi's main political party, the MQM, which resigned from the government last week, has called for a day of mourning.

"People are stuck at home; their food and rations are finishing," Karachi resident Mohammad Shahid said. "Where is the government? Where is the police?"

Sharjeel Memon, the provincial information minister, said: "We have issued orders to the security forces to shoot anyone involved in violence on the spot.

"In addition to the police and Rangers, another 1,000 personnel of the Frontier Constabulary will be deployed in the city to control the violence."

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that most of those who had died were innocent people. "Very few are politically affiliated people," he said.

He added that 89 people had been arrested for involvement in the violence.

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Karachi 'video killers' in court

17 June 2011 Last updated at 15:13 GMT Sarfaraz Shah (left) was detained at gunpoint and then shot Seven men, six of them soldiers, have appeared in a Pakistani anti-terrorism court in connection with the killing of an unarmed man in the city of Karachi.

The killing of Sarfaraz Shah was filmed by a TV cameraman and widely broadcast by Pakistani channels.

The soldiers belong to a paramilitary unit and are in jail awaiting formal charges. Pakistani prosecutors say they will pursue murder charges.

A security guard from the park where Mr Shah was killed is also in custody.

Police say they have completed their investigation into the incident and the case now rests with the prosecutors.

"We have been handed over the charges against the men by the police," public prosecutor Arshad Iqbal Cheema told the BBC.

"We are examining them and will present them in court once we have been satisfied."

'Begging for help'

The strongest piece of evidence is the video footage recorded by a cameraman for Awaz (The Voice) TV, a local Pakistani channel.

Continue reading the main story Syed Shoaib Hasan BBC News, Karachi

Police officials escorted the men into the court amid tight security. The accused had their faces covered to conceal their features.

Police officials say that they have asked for the men to be tried under Pakistan's anti-terror law, which also deals with especially horrendous crimes. They face a possible death penalty.

But public prosecutors say they still need to examine the evidence before asking for such a punishment.

Pakistan's government is under tremendous public pressure to punish the men. It is all part of a rising wave of anger against the country's security forces.

Many people are now calling for accountability in the face of instances of inefficiency and abuse of power.

The footage, which surfaced last week, showed Sarfaraz Shah, wearing a black T-shirt, being dragged by his hair in a public park by a man in plain clothes and pushed towards a group of Sindh Rangers who are in uniform and armed.

He pleads for his life as one of the Rangers points a gun at his neck and a little later a Ranger shoots him twice at close range, hitting him in the thigh. The young man is seen writhing on the ground, bleeding heavily and begging for help.

The paramilitaries did nothing to help him. He died from his injuries.

The Rangers say he was caught trying to rob someone. His family denies this.

Police said they recovered a fake pistol, which Mr Shah was carrying, as well as the two bullets which killed him. They have also interviewed 17 witnesses.

The video prompted further widespread criticism of the Pakistani security establishment, which is already under fire for the recent killing of a journalist, Saleem Shahzad.

Journalists, politicians and rights activists have accused the army's intelligence service, the ISI, of the murder, a charge which the ISI denies.

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Saudi citizen killed in Karachi

16 May 2011 Last updated at 12:10 GMT Officials said the car was attacked about 1km (half a mile) from the consulate Gunmen opened fire on a car belonging to the Saudi consulate in Karachi, killing a Saudi citizen, police said.

Hassan al-Qahtani, a consulate employee, was attacked in the wealthy and normally peaceful Defence district.

The attack comes two days after grenades were thrown at the consulate building, causing no injuries.

No group has said it carried out the attack, but al-Qaeda is known to be violently opposed to the Saudi government.

The group has vowed to avenge the death of its Saudi-born leader Osama Bin Laden, who was killed in a US raid in Pakistan earlier this month. Saudi Arabia stripped the al-Qaeda leader of citizenship years ago.

A Taliban spokesman told the BBC that while they did not carry out this attack, they supported whoever did.

A Saudi official told the AFP news agency that the attack took place about 1km (half a mile) from the consular building.

"At least six bullets were fired in the attack," Deputy Inspector General of Police Iqbal Mahmood told reporters.

"There were four men on two motorbikes and they stopped the vehicle before opening fire," he said.

Saudi ambassador Abdul Aziz al-Ghadeer condemned the attack. "No-one who carries out this kind of attack can be a Muslim," he told the Reuters news agency.

The southern port city of Karachi has seen an increase in violence in recent years. There have been Taliban attacks on the city and ethnically-based political and sectarian killings are common too.

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