Lyari clean-up drive: Two police officers killed in rocket attack

Karachi: At least five people, including two police officials, were killed yesterday in a rocket attack on an armoured car during a pitched battle between gangs operating in Lyari and the police, taking the death toll to 13 on the second consecutive day of Operation Clean-up.

The gangsters scaled up their retaliatory combat against over 1,000 law enforcement personnel and police who were trying to make forays into the narrow alleys of Lyari.

"The gangsters are using modern automatic weapons and they have an advantage of narrow streets in the area," Karachi police chief Akhtar Gorchani told the media.

"But we will not let the sacrifices of our officers go in vain as we are committed to eradicate criminals from the area," he said.

The rocket attack killed the police officer in charge of the Civil Lines Police Station and his assistant. Three other policemen were injured.

Entrenched gangs

Hundreds of policemen, commandos of the Rapid Response Force (RRF) and the paramilitary frontier constabulary launched an operation against the heavily armed and entrenched gangs inside the narrow alleys of Lyari, a hub of drug dealers, weapons traders and extortionists.

The first day of the operation saw a pitched battle between the police and the gangsters. At least eight people were shot dead, including Naeem Lahooti, a notorious gangster.

Yesterday, two more men were shot dead.

The gangsters retaliated with rockets, hand grenades and automatic weapons, killing a policeman and injuring six others, including two officers.

Lyari, once a bustling district, became a ‘no-go-area' for the police and other outsiders as different gangs have taken control of the area, challenging the state writ.

Civilians affected

Many ring leaders have formed different gangs who have established their fiefdoms in the town. The two-day battle shut down the area completely, depriving hundreds of thousands of workers of their livelihood.

The Cheel Chowk and Nawalane neighbourhoods were the strongholds of Lyari gangs. The police managed to vacate the areas during the two-day operation.

"We are proceeding deep inside and we have cleared a large area of Lyari from the gangs and their aides," Mohammad Aslam, a police officer who is leading the operation, told the media.

Lyari is one of the oldest areas in this city and its heterogeneous population is dominated by ethnic Baloch, Kacchis, Pashtuns, Hazaras and Punjabis. Despite being the stronghold of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the district remains deprived of basic amenities.

Hundreds of women, children and men protested against the police operation in Lyari, as angry protesters set a PPP flag on fire.

The protesters were chanting anti-party slogans and condemned the role of President Asif Ali Zardari.

"Good bye Zardari. Now you are no more welcome here," a woman shouted during the protest.

‘We need peace'

The wedding of President Zardari and the late Benazir Bhutto was held in a football ground in Lyari in the 1980s.

The two-day operation has deprived people of access to food and other basic necessities. "We need peace but we also need wheat and water to survive," another woman said.

The women accused the police of killing innocent people as well.