Violence continued in Pakistan's troubled southern city of Karachi today, with at least 16 people killed in different attacks, including eight in one incident, police and officials said.
At least 49 people have been killed in Karachi since Saturday when violence erupted ahead of a by-election to replace a provincial politician murdered in August, raising fears of instability in the country's commercial capital.
Senior police official Naveed Khawaja said unknown gunmen riding on motorcycles opened fire in the Sher Shah area, known locally for used cars and machine parts.
Eight people were killed and 10 injured in the incident, said Hashim Raza, health secretary of Sindh province of which Karachi is the capital.
Another eight were killed in other incidents in the city on Tuesday, police said, though it was not clear if all the attacks were related to the ongoing violence.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the dominant political force in Karachi, has already stepped up pressure on the government to stem the violence. The MQM says its workers were among those killed.
According to sources, the MQM threatened over the weekend to to pull out of the coalition government with President Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan People's Party to protest the violence.
The move, which party sources say was put "on hold" on assurances of strong action to contain the violence, could lead to the government losing its National Assembly majority, or even its downfall if the MQM sides with the opposition.
Political and ethnic rivalries and turf wars - sometimes linked to criminal gangs - make it difficult to maintain order in Karachi, home to Pakistan's main port, stock exchange and central bank and the main gateway for Western military supplies bound for neighbouring landlocked Afghanistan.
Reuters