A Brit Abroad

My first 2 weeks in Karachi

Received a ‘security update’ from the British consulate this afternoon with the following reassuring statistics

Karachi Incidents – 14 October to 20 October 11

 14 October 11 – Lyari:  At least ten people were injured in a grenade attack in the Lyari, two unidentified motorcyclists threw a locally made grenade at the Jalali Snooker Club in Bihar Colony causing injuries to several pedestrians.

 14 October 11 – Korangi:  A man was shot dead while standing outside his house in Bangali Para in Korangi 2 1/2.

 14 October 11 – New Karachi:  A tortured body of a man found from an empty plot no 3 / 4 situated in New Karachi Sector 6-B near Ayub Goath.

 16 October 11 – Orangi Town:  Three sisters, two of them handicapped were killed and their bodies were found in a pond setup for their father’s cattle in Orangi Town.

 16 October 11 – Gulshan-i-Hadeed:  A shop keeper was killed while resisting bandits in Gulshan-e-Hadeed area of Bin Qasim Town.

 16 October 11 – Karachi:  Several dozen suspects were rounded up during search operation carried out by law – enforcement agencies in Hijarat Colony, Mehran Town and Gulshan-i-Iqbal.

 17 October 11 – Orangi Town:  An activist of Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was shot dead in Orangi Town, while he was pasing through Ghaziabad area in Sector 11 1/2  when he was intercepted by armed men who shot him dead.

 17 October 11 – Lyari:  A man was shot dead by armed motorcyclists outside his house in Lyari, the deceased was an activist of Pakistan People’s Party.

 17 October 11 – DHA:  A police constable was killed and a suspected bandit critically wounded in what the police described as a shoot out with bandits in DHA area.

 18 October 11 – North Karachi:  Four people were killed in what appeared to a targeted attack in North Karachi, some people on a motorbike opened fire at a garment shop near Nagan Chowrangi.

 18 October 11 – Bin Qasim:  A wood picker was gunned down when a guard of the Steel Mills opened fire on him after an exchange of hot words with in the limits of Bin Qasim Police limits.

 18 October 11 – Clifton:  Police claimed to have arrested a suspected hit man said to be involved in the target killings of 42 people, after an encounter in Clifton area. The suspected man arrested following a shoot – out and illegal weapons and two grenades were recovered from him.

 19 October 11 – Orangi Town:  A 45 year old man was gunned down by armed motorcyclists while he was sitting outside his house in MRP Colony in Orangi Town

 19 October 11 – Karachi:  An owner of a paan shop was shot dead when armed men opened fire on his shop and fled, near Niaz Manzil in North Nazimabad. Meanwhile a tortured body of Punnjab Police personnel was found near Radio Pakistan Ground in Shah Latif Town Police limits.

 19 October 11 – Gulistan-i-Jouhar:  A major terrorism act was averted on Wednesday when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), weighing around 30 Kg was found police and Bomb Disposal Squad defused in Gulistan-i-Jouhar.

Suddenly the armed escort doesn’t seem so much like unnecessary overkill.