KARACHI: Life in Lyari was troubled when security forces launched an operation against criminal elements in the area more than a week ago, but now the local residents have breathed a sigh of relief after the operation was halted for 48 hours, Geo News reported Saturday.
Business activities started to resume today while the schools were also open. The electricity supple was suspended in the area after miscreants damaged supply lines by hand grenades and rocket launchers at Cheel Chowk. Some houses were also damaged during the battle that forced the residents to migrate to safer areas.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik had announced on Friday that soon a major operation would be launched against criminals in Lyari, hours after the Sindh police chief Mushtaq Shah said the weeklong operation in the area was being halted for 48 hours.
“It [the weeklong action] was not exactly an operation; rather, it was a targeted attack to capture certain criminal elements taking refuge in the area,” Malik told a press conference at the Central Police Office.
The announcement comes amid a growing criticism of the police operation that left at least 30 people dead and scores injured in Lyari, a stronghold of the ruling Pakistan People Party, over the past eight days.
“This time around, a lot more people will be accompanying the police,” said Malik, who was flanked by Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Shah and various high-ranking officials of District South.
The interior minister said that at present the majority of criminals were residing in Lyari and, if a comprehensive operation took place in the area, it would “completely clean Karachi of criminals.”
“At present, there are 200 criminals in Lyari, including members of proscribed organisations taking refuge in the area,” he said, referring to Al-Qaeda, Jaish-e- Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sepah-e-Sahaba and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
IG Mushtaq Shah said the police were very much capable to handle the situation in Lyari and said it was not at all a “professional mistake.” “We will definitely go after them. Maybe within 48 hours,” he added cautiously before walking out.
IG Shah said that the Sindh government had decided to provide facilities to the public, as the operation had left the people of Lyari facing extreme food shortages.
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