At least 23 people were killed and about two dozen others injured in violent clashes between two ethnic groups that erupted in parts of this southern Pakistani port city on Wednesday.
The clashes began after two activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were found shot dead in the northern part of the city. MQM supporters exchanged fire with members of Pashtun groups at several places across Karachi, leaving 23 people dead and over 24 injured, media reports said.
Babar Khattak, the police chief of Sindh province, said several people had been arrested for involvement in the violence. Police were conducting raids and expected to make more arrests, he said.
A total of 6,000 policemen and paramilitary Pakistan Rangers were deployed to restore order in the city, officials said.
During the clashes, members of the two groups torched more than a dozen vehicles in different parts of the city. Shops and markers closed as the violence spread. At least eight policemen were injured also in the firing.
Karachi, a stronghold of the MQM, has witnessed increasing tensions between supporters of the party and Pashtun groups in the past few months.
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