Pakistan Finally Decides To Gut Out Karachi - Good Luck, Ha!

Let's face it - you couldn't clean up the city of Karachi, Pakistan if you spent 20 years trying to do it - there's more bad seeds in that city than there are good.

But the Pakistanis say they are gonna give it a go.  Well, all I can say is the streets will run red with blood in Karachi real soon.

The story comes from DAWN.

Nisar says Karachi ‘operation’ to start in two days

KARACHI: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced Wednesday that the paramilitary Rangers force would start a targeted operation against criminal gangs and terrorists in Karachi in the next “one to two days”.

A committee led by the provincial chief minister would “manage, administer and control” the operation, he said, however he emphasised on calling it a targeted action or "exercise" rather than an operation.

The interior minister, flanked by Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ibad and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, was speaking to media representatives following a special session of the federal cabinet in Karachi chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to formulate a strategy to restore peace in the provincial capital.

Earlier during the cabinet session, the prime minister had also stressed on calling it a “concerted campaign” against lawlessness and terrorism in the city rather than an operation.

Sharif expressed concern at the deteriorating law and order situation, although he ruled out a possibility of deploying military troops in the metropolis.

The Sindh police came under intense criticism during the session for the ‘political recruitments’ in its ranks. The prime minister said that the common man had lost faith in the police force.

Announcing the details of the plan, Nisar told reporters that targeted action would be taken against criminals involved in the “four heinous crimes of target-killing, kidnapping, extortion and terrorism”. Rangers would lead the operation while police and the federal and provincial intelligence agencies would support them. He said.

He said the prime minister had held detailed meetings with top government officials and heads of law enforcement authorities, and it was decided at the cabinet meeting that the Rangers force would be given special prosecution powers to aid them in acting against miscreants.

A second committee would be formed comprising of federal minister Zahid Hamid, Farogh Naseem of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, and the prosecutor general to look at the legal aspect. Nisar said the committee would propose legal recommendations for the law of evidence and other provisions to give grant investigation and prosecution powers to the paramilitary force in Karachi. “We have spoken to Rangers officials and have been informed of deficiencies in the system. Measures would soon be taken to fill these gaps,” he said.

Nisar said at least one police station in every district of the city would be assigned as a focal police station where Rangers would be made part of investigations into the ‘four heinous crimes.

A smaller operational committee, headed by DG Rangers Sindh Maj-Gen Rizwan Akhtar and comprising the Inspector General of Sindh Police and representatives of intelligence agencies, would meet almost daily to monitor the operational activities. The interior minister said the first meeting of the committee would be called as soon as he returns to Islamabad.

The interior minister said orders had been issued to revamp the provincial police force which has come under intense criticism for poor performance. “We have ordered and authorised the IGP to revamp the police… and not only identify weaknesses but also elements in its ranks which are in cahoots with terrorists and criminals. These individuals should not only be terminated from duty but also arrested,” he said.

An “outer monitoring committee” comprising of members of the civil society and the media will also be formed to monitor the overall operation. “Members of this committee will be honest members of the civil society and notable representatives of the media who will identify if any wrongful arrests are made,” said Nisar.

The interior minister also pointed out the existence of 4 million unregistered mobile phone SIMs which he said aided terrorists and criminals in carrying out their activities. He said cellular companies would be forced to follow clear cut guidelines to ensure the sale of SIMs without proper registration.

Karachi, Pakistan....Literally Hell On Earth

I have purposely avoided blogging about all of the death and destruction that goes on in Karachi, Pakistan because much of it is not related to the Taliban or to other jihadis - it's always been intertwined with organized crime, with gangs, with two bit tribal rivalries but the fact of the matter is that Karachi has simply become Hell on earth.  If there's a more dangerous place on this planet, I'd like to know about it.

Well, another bomb blast has killed a ton of people in Karachi but what else is new?

The report comes from DAWN.

Third strike in four days in Karachi; 11 die in blast at ANP meeting


KARACHI: As the city observed a day of mourning for people killed in Thursday’s bomb blast near an MQM election office in North Nazimabad’s Nusrat Bhutto Colony area, Karachi was aggrieved by a gruesome militant attack on the street corner meeting of a candidate of another liberal democratic party, the ANP, on Friday evening.

This was the third militant attack in four days as the militants appeared determined to keep the MQM, ANP and PPP out of the electoral process, possibly encouraged by the reluctance of two mainstream parties actively engaged in electioneering in Punjab to condemn the wave of terror attacks in three other provinces.

At least 11 people were killed and over 50 others injured when a bomb blast hit the election meeting of Awami National Party (ANP) candidate Bashir Jan in Orangi Town.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Earlier in the day, Abdul Rehman Khan, another ANP candidate contesting for the NA-255 seat, survived an attack when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Landhi area.

Bashir Jan, the ANP general secretary for Sindh survived the attack as he was inside his car at the time of the attack.

“I was sitting in my car when the explosion took place. The car was thrown up a few feet in the air because of the impact of the blast,” Mr Jan said.

This was the third attempt on his life. Earlier, he had been fired upon near Hasan Square and he was wounded when an IED exploded near his car in the Frontier Colony area last year.

“A street corner meeting was supposed to be held in a small ground surrounded by walls. The blast took place when Bashir Jan was approaching the venue in his car through a narrow street,” SSP district west Asif Ajaz Shaikh told Dawn.

Although police had not been formally informed about the meeting in advance, a police mobile with a few personnel had been deputed at a distance from the venue at the request of the organisers, he said.

“Preliminary findings suggest that Bashir Jan was the target of the attack. Because a large number of people were there he could not be targeted,” SSP of CID’s counter-terrorism unit Raja Umar Khattab told Dawn.

He said the explosives weighing about 10kgs had been placed in a rickshaw.

The brunt of the attack was borne by three vehicles parked in the street and some shops. Debris started falling on the narrow lane after the blast.

The windscreen of Bashir Jan’s vehicle was damaged, he said.

The bodies and the injured were taken to different hospitals. The Civil Hospital received six bodies, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital three and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre one. One of the critically injured died in Civil Hospital.

Speaking to Dawn.com on phone from an undisclosed location, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said the TTP had carried out the attack on the ANP election meeting because of their secular politics.

Talking to a private news channel, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali condemned the attack and said his party would not bow down to the terrorists who were targeting political workers.

“People know who are behind these barbaric acts; they want to force us out of the election process,” he said, but made it clear that the ANP would not boycott the May 11 elections.

The Muttahida Quami Movement chief also condemned the attack.

DAY OF MOURNING: The ANP announced a peaceful day of mourning on Saturday. The party leader Senator Shahi Syed appealed to the people, traders and transporters to observe mourning but not to shut their businesses.