More killings in Lahore then Karachi

From our correspondent

KARACHI - While Karachi, the country's commercial capital, is regarded as one of the world's most violent cities, surprisingly it is Lahore, and not Karachi, which holds the record of the highest rate of killings in the country. This was stated by none other than the federal Interior Minister, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, in reply to a question in Senate, the upper house of parliament. The question had been asked by Opposition Pakistan People's Party Senator and former law minister Iqbal Haider.

According to official figures, 861 people were killed in Karachi in violent incidents during the first nine months of this year, January 1 to September 30. Besides those killed in acts of terrorism, the figure includes those who lost their lives because of personal animosities.

During the same period, 1,070 people met violent deaths recorded in Lahore, a city with less than half the population of Karachi. This figure does not include 126 people whose death over the same period was recorded as suicide.

Another point which emerged from the figures released by the Ministry of Interior is that apart from June,1998, when 175 people were killed, Lahore suffered more than 100 deaths during seven of the years compared to four months for Karachi.