13 confirmed dead in Karachi mourners attack

Karachi law enforcement officials have confirmed 13 casualties in an apparent suicide attack on a minibus here on Friday noon. Dr Semi Jamali, incharge emergency ward of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, told the newsmen that at least 11 dead bodies and nearly 40 wounded have so far been brought to the medical facility.

According to preliminary reports, a bus of route 52-A was bringing mourners from Jaffar Taeyyar society of Malir area to main Muharram procession presently being underway at M A Jinnah road. When the ill-fated bus reached Shahrah-e-Quaideen from Nursery flyover a motorcycle, apparently-laden with explosives, rammed into the bus with a loud bang, CCPO Karachi Waseem Ahmed informed news channel on telephone. Emergency has been declared at nearby Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center where at least 12 wounded have so far been rushed by the emergency relief staffers. Police and Rangers have reached the scene and the blast site has been cordoned off for general public.

Tension Over Amenity Park's Land Disposing

Tension erupted in Old Golimar area as two groups turned violent to resist a move to dispose of land of historic amenity park, Gutter Baghicha, among affectees of Lyari Expressway project yesterday, witnesses and police said.
Heavy firing among vioters for around three hours left area as deserted in afternoon and caused injuries to a law enforcer. They said the riots broke out at noon; when city government officials visited Gutter Baghicha for carve out small plots from amenity plot to provide alternate land to the affectees of Lyari Expressway Project.
Witnesses said supporters of an ethnic group objected that amenity plot was purely meant for park and resisted the move to utilise it for residential purpose.
They told city government officials that the historical park was developed during British era for 100 year and it largely provided amusement opportunities to them, police officials said.
Situation deteriorated when armedmen belonging to another group jumped into quarel between city government officials and first group. Both parties took up positions in narrow lanes, continuously trading straight firing.
Later, a congingent of police and Rangers reached the spot and cordoned off the whole area. Law enforcers used teargas shells to disperse miscreants.
A Rangers official was hit in head by a stray bullet, believed to be fire by rioters and rushed to Civil Hospital Karachi.
All routine activities came to a sudden halt following incident. However, law enforcers were deployed in area of disturbance to curb any reaction. (NC)