A top Awami National Party leader was today shot dead in a targeted killing here, days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered to flush out criminal elements from Pakistan's biggest city.
Sardar Syed Lal Darwaish was killed in the volatile Orangi Town while he was returning home from office, police said.
Darwaish was a close relative of Senator Shahi Syed who heads the ANP in Karachi, a party spokesperson said.
In the past also, several ANP leaders have been targeted in the city which has a big Pashtun speaking population as many of them migrated from the northern areas or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province due to the rising incidents of terrorism and religious intolerance.
At a special federal cabinet meeting here this week, Sharif was told by intelligence officials that the Tehrik-e-Taliban and other militant groups had forced the ANP to close down their offices and units in many parts of the city and also targeted their leaders.
Sharif returned from Karachi after ordering the provincial Sindh government and paramilitary Rangers to carry out effective operations in troubled areas of the city hit by criminal gangs and terrorists.
During different raids conducted by the security forces today, a total of 25 people were arrested, including seven target killers, four extortionists and a few members of political parties and banned outfits.
Apart from the ANP leader, violence claimed one more life in the city.
