SIX MQM MEN SHOT DEAD IN KARACHI

By Our Staff Reporter

KARACHI, June 23: Four workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were shot dead in different parts of Karachi on Tuesday.

A member of the party's "Buzurg committee", Syed Ghulam Muhammad (50), and a 23-year-old worker, Amir, were killed in an armed attack on the Moosa Colony house of another MQM man, in the jurisdiction of the Sharifabad police station.

Two other young party workers, identified as Tanvir Mohammad Hanif and Anver, were also injured in the attack by unknown gunmen.

The dead and injured were removed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

A 13-year-old boy, Sikandar, was shot dead allegedly by police in Orangi Town. The dead, brother of a worker of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, was taken to the Qatar Hospital.

Hospital sources said the boy had received two bullet wounds on his face and neck.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement alleged that Sikandar was sitting outside his house when a police party in an armoured personnel car opened fire indiscriminately. The APC later left the scene while resorting to heavy firing.

The boy's killing sparked off a protest by the residents, including women, who surrounded the Orangi Town police station. The police also resorted to heavy firing in the air and fired a tear-gas shell to disperse the agitators, who pelted the police station with stones.

Later, senior police officials rushed to the area amid heightened tension. The senior superintendent of police, Karachi West, however, said the situation had been brought under control.

A 20-year-old man received critical bullet wounds in Korangi No 2 1\2 late Tuesday night. The man was on his motorcycle when he was shot in the abdomen.

The injured, identified as Amir, was rushed to the Jinnah Hospital. His condition was described as unstable.

Another MQM worker was gunned down and six other party men sustained bullet wounds in an attack on a party office near Rehmania Masjid, Bohra Pir (Ranchhore Lines).

The police said occupants of a car had opened fire at the MQM's office.

The dead and injured were shifted to the Civil Hospital. The dead man was identified as Mohammad Ismail.

Dawn News