One person was killed in a dispute between MQM-P and PPP in Karachi

Late Sunday, a scuffle between Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) supporters in the Nazimabad No 2 locality killed a 48-year-old man named Faraz and wounded another.

According to local police sources, the event occurred during the peak of political activity running up to the February 8 elections, with political parties canvassing, holding public rallies, and holding corner meetings to rally their followers.

Violence ensued between workers from the two political groupings, with unidentified persons setting fire to two vehicles during the confrontation. A video of the event emerged, showing activists from both parties tossing chairs at one another in a sickening display of hostility.

According to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Faraz died as a result of a deadly gunshot wound to his head. MQM-Pakistan Rabita Committee member Taha Siddiqui stated that PPP workers started the conflict by opening fire at their office, killing the UC-in-charge.

“The Peoples Party [PPP] cannot occupy the city through terrorism,” Siddiqui claimed, speaking to the journalists outside the hospital.

According to a representative for MQM-Pakistan, the confrontation began when PPP workers sought to take their party’s banner. Although the conflict was temporarily resolved, PPP workers allegedly returned two hours later with armed guards, resulting in a second round of violence that killed Faraz.

MQM-Pakistan senior leader Mustafa Kamal, speaking at a news conference, accused PPP leader Asim Hussain of arranging the attack on MQM-P workers. Kamal said that the MQM-P workers were unarmed and did not respond with violence.

“I am warning for the last time that I will not let my workers even suffer a single scratch,” Kamal told the crowd.

This incident comes after a previous fight in December last year, when the MQM-P claimed that three of its workers were killed and dozens injured by PPP members during an attack on their election office in Karachi’s Machar Colony.

However, police characterized the altercation as involving “two groups,” with three wounded.