Three ‘MQM-P workers killed’ in Karachi’s Machar Colony

KARACHI: Three Mutahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) workers were shot dead and others injured when Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) members fired on them, the party claimed Monday.

In a statement, the party said its election office in Karachi’s Machar Colony — one of the largest slums of the port city — was attacked whilst workers and leaders were busy in election-related activities.

Police, on the other hand, claimed that “two groups” had a clash in the area, adding that three people were killed, while the main suspect and his brother were arrested. The paramilitary forces also said that they were searching for others involved in the attack.

“According to the initial information, this was a land dispute,” the law enforcement agency added.

The general elections are set to take place across the country on February 8, 2024, with some political parties already expressing fears that the security situation is still not feasible to stage them.

Elections — whether it be general or by — usually witness violence as party workers clash when they confront their opponents, resulting in deaths and severe injuries.

MQM-P deputy convener Anis Kaimkhani alleged that an armed group of the PPP attacked his party’s nominated candidates for the national and provincial assemblies.

“MQM-P’s candidates Humayun Dilawar and Malik Fayyaz were busy in electioneering. The PPP [workers] fired on unarmed workers,” Kaimkhani noted in a statement.

The deputy convener added that the main suspect, Nisar Khan, is an officeholder of the PPP and is the coordinator of PPP leader Abdul Qadir Patel.

“The MQM-P workers have been injured and three killed. The injured are receiving treatment at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.”

In response, PPP’s Patel demanded the MQM-P stop the politics of “blame game and dead bodies”.

“The MQM-P is trying to portray the event as a political one,” the PPP leader said in a statement, wondering why the party was doing so as he termed the allegations “shameful”.