Karachi Pakistan’s largest city and its economic hub, has been a victim of terrorist violence for the last four decades. Though the situation has improved remarkably during the last five or six years, the city is still vulnerable to terrorism.

My first encounter with terrorist violence came shortly after my graduation.

Karachi had always been a politically charged city. However, it was only a year after the imposition of martial law (in 1977) that I witnessed the first sectarian clash at Golimar, Rizvia. It was a street fight in which two groups carrying knives and pistols clashed during the holy month of Rabi-ul-Awwal in 1978.

I was passing through the area with a friend, when we saw troops blocking the road. We heard shots being fired and saw people running for cover. We decided to take another route. I asked a police officer why army had been called out. "Leave the area … the situation is very bad," he said without telling us what had happened. Later, I came to know through BBC radio that at least 10 people had been killed and scores were injured in a sectarian clash -- the first of its kind in the city.

With the passage of time, the hardened criminals in the area started seeking the patronage of political parties and violent ethnic and sectarian groups. Tasveer Boohra, Qamar Teedi, Shabbeera, Kalanagh, once described as criminals become ‘political.’

Karachi had seen ethnic violence during the governments of Ayub Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. This, however, appeared to be a new phenomenon. Within a year, there were more incidents of sectarian violence in Liaquatabad, Lasbella, Golimar, Dirg Colony and Malir.

On August 12, 1979, automatic weapons were used for the first time in a clash between students at Karachi University. I was part of a student procession protesting against the oath-taking of a student union when it came under fire. Someone told me they were using Kalashnikovs. I had not heard this word before.

In 1981, months before I started my journalism career, we heard that a PIA plane had been hijacked on its way from Karachi to Peshawar. When a photograph of the hijacker was published in a newspaper the next day, I immediately recognised him as somebody I had seen at Karachi University. I still remembered that. I had been sitting with some friends at the Arts Lobby when we suddenly heard shots, followed by the loud blast of a hand grenade. I looked towards the administrative block and saw Salamullah Tipu (the hijacker), holding a gun in his one hand and a grenade in the other.

I also saw someone lying on the road in a pool of blood. It was one of the worst experiences of my life till then.

In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, during my school days in Hyderabad, mobs used to attack our school, next to St. Bonaventure’s Church, for no reason. As a child I never understood why they attacked it.

The hijacking drama ended 14 days later with the release of 54 political prisoners, mostly belonging to Pakistan Peoples Party. I had known some of those released.

A situation a group of leaders from the Communist Party of Pakistan, who were facing sedition charges, refused to go. They took the position that they didn’t believe in getting released in such a manner. They were Jam Saqi, Prof Jamal Naqvi, Dr Jabbar Khattak, Sohail Sangi, Shabber Sher, Badar Abro, Kamal Warsi and Amar Lal.

After I joined The Star on August 1, 1981, I followed this case at a military court. Jam Saqi vs the State later became a landmark case in Pakistan’s political history.  Benazir Bhutto, too, appeared as a witness for defence.

From 1981 to 1984, the city witnessed the rise of sectarian groups that were later accused of attacking each other. It became the ‘proxy war’ post-Iranian revolution -- between the supporters of Mujahideen Khalaq and Paasdaran-e-Inqilab. It was strange how the conflict had reached Pakistan.

A bungalow in Defence Housing Society was blown up. It was not clear whether it had been hit with a rocket or blown up with an explosive device. The incident alerted the security agencies to the presence of sophisticated weapons in the city. It was followed by firing outside the Iraqi Consulate. Years later, in the 90s, some Iranian engineers were killed.

I can recollect a killing in Liaquatabad and an attack on a mosque and Imambargah. I was with former BBC colleague, Iqbal Jaffery, and a BBC correspondent from Islamabad. We were talking to one another when a boy, holding a huge knife approached us and said he had stabbed people. "You can report it," he said. I sensed danger and asked Jaffery to immediately leave the place.

By the year 1984, reports had started appearing in newspapers about huge quantities of drugs and arms being smuggled into Karachi. I investigated and reported some of the stories about the involvement of the ‘underworld’. I named a few of them and pointed out their hideouts. The story that landed me in serious trouble was about how arms and drugs were being dumped in Sohrab Goth.

A year later, the then chief minister, Syed Ghous Ali Shah, ordered an operation in Sohrab Goth. Within days he, came under pressure from a powerful lobby and the operation was stopped.

February 1985 was a turning point. In a road accident, a college student, Bushra Zaidi was killed. My senior colleague, Idrees Bakhtiar (late) was on the spot when the accident occurred. He reported the event from there. It soon became an ethnic (Muhajir vs Pashtoon) issue, as most of the drivers of mini buses were Pashtoon. Mobs started attacking their shops. When I reached the area people were wrecking mini buses.

Although there were no mobile phones or private TV channels, the news spread like wild fire that a university bus carrying Pashtoon students had been attacked and some students were killed.

I was at the deputy commissioner, West’s office when he got a call that he must order extra police. As we came out of the office, I saw a mob coming towards the office. Police quickly cordoned off the area and somehow I managed to leave the place.

It was the beginning of a new ethnic strife in the city.

Karachi never looked back. It witnessed one of the most horrifying carnages when over one hundred people perished in an attack in Aligarh and Qasba Colony.

As we reached the spot, it was a terrible sight. The then deputy commissioner, Rasheed Alam, who investigated the matter, disclosed that there were signs of some ‘hidden hands’ behind the carnage.

Pakistan is still in the grey list of FATF, but the fact is it has come a long way and defeated terrorism to a large extent. Karachi is now much safer and areas like Swat, North Waziristan and Malakand have been cleared.

I still remember how two people allegedly undercover US agents were killed near Nursery on Shahra-e-Faisal in 1994. I remember I was on my way to office in a taxi when I saw a car with US Consulate’s number plate being hit. At first, I thought it was an accident but then I saw signs of bullets, and rushed to the office to file the story. Later, I got a call from CNN who took my beeper via phone.

The writer is a senior columnist and analyst of GEO, The News and Jang. He tweets @MazharAbbasGEO