There is expected to be more deaths as a result of these actions.
The assault was a reaction to the killing of a outstanding political leader in August. Just last month, there were similar killings due to another political leaders death. This action resulted in 18 deaths.
There have been many arrest made. Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik has made a statement vowing that those who are responsible for this, will be brought to justice.
It began Saturday just before the provincial by-election to find a replacement for the lawmaker from Muttahida Qaumi Movement that was killed. MQM is a liberal group who strong hold is Karachi. It is one of the biggest groups in Pakistan and is a part of President Asif Ali Zardari’s dominating alliance.
There was a boycott by the Awami National Party. They are a competitor to the MQM. They boycotted the vote which led to the MQM winning by a large majority.This was due to request to use election monitors. The request was denied.
Before the election, apparently there was reports of the MQM group provoking the Awami party trying to get them to vote for the MQM.
After the killings, both the MQM and the Awami National Parties pointed to each other as possibly have done it.
According to Sen. Zahid Hussain, a speaker for the Awami National party, “among the killed, most of the people were Pashtuns who were killed by the MQM,”
While Qamar Mansoor, a senior leader of the MQM party, reported that 8 MQM members and many other Urdu-speaking people were killed by the ANP.
The killings are being looked into and the responsible parties will be brought to justice.
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