Karachi, April 30
A wave of ethnic violence swept this southern Pakistani port city killing at least 29 persons, including Pashtuns and Urdu-speaking supporters of the MQM, in the last two days.

The clashes began after two activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were found shot dead in the northern part of the city.

MQM supporters exchanged fire with members of Pashtun groups at several places across Karachi, leaving at least 29 people dead so far and over 40 injured, media reports said.

Several parts of Karachi continued to be tense as armed members of the two groups clashed with each other and burnt shops, Dawn news reported.

Shoot-at-sight orders were in place in the city as Pakistani Rangers patrolled the streets today.

All educational institutions remained closed and the violence-hit areas wore a deserted look as shopkeepers pulled down their shutters and vehicular traffic disappeared.

Following the killing of the MQM activists, armed members of a group attacked a neighbourhood in north Karachi.

This triggered large-scale violence in the central and eastern parts of the city. More than a dozen vehicles and several shops were torched by members of both groups.

The paramilitary forces arrested 25 persons and seized weapons, including rifles, pistols and ammunition during a search operation, even as Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ordered an inquiry into the clashes.

Karachi, a stronghold of the MQM, has witnessed increasing tensions between supporters of the party and Pashtun groups in the past few months.

President Zardari, who is on a foreign visit, asked the Chief Minister of Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital, to call a meeting of all stakeholders to “hammer out a solution and prevent the violence from spreading”.

The President said Pakistan could “ill-afford violence in Karachi at a time when it was already dealing with militants in the northern parts of the country”. — PTI