Pakistan’s biggest city is heading towards chaos and operations targeting militants cannot succeed without cooperation between the federal and provincial governments, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said today.
Khan is visiting the financial hub after the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the city’s largest party, claimed its workers were being hunted down and killed in the name of operations against militants and criminals.
He said targeted operations, aimed at preventing the city’s slide towards chaos, wouldn’t be successful without the federal and Sindh governments working together.
“I will discuss the MQM’s apprehensions with the Chief Minister and Governor today. My visit is to discuss the overall security situation in the city,” said Khan, who was despatched to the city by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
He said the situation in Karachi was a national issue. “It is an issue of every citizen.”
Senior MQM leaders met the Interior Minister and outlined their concerns regarding the disappearance and murders of their workers.
The targeted operations began in September 2013, soon after Sharif visited the city that has witnessed widespread ethnic and political violence in recent years. Sharif’s PML-N party is in power at the centre while Sindh is ruled by the Pakistan People’s Party.
Khan’s visit coincided with a suicide attack on a police bus by a Taliban bomber that killed 13 people and injured 50.
The Interior Minister is a vocal supporter of talks with the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which claimed responsibility for the attack.