Pakistan Conflict Monitor

The Open City: Social Networks and Violence in Karachi

The Open City: Social Networks and Violence in Karachi [pdf], The London School of Economics // Crisis States Research Centre, March 2010

EXCERPT: "The very features of Pakistani society that are represented so prominently in Karachi - ethnic and sectarian heterogeneity, political fragmentation, economic disparity, demographic pressures, steady erosion of the state's institutional capacity and the footprint of international conflict - are the ones that challenge the stability of the nation state.  From being the national political pulse, the city withdrew into its own violent politics in the 1980s - development that paralleled a wider process of political disarticulation in Pakistan.  This paper provides a perspective on institutional breakdown, using political violence as an index. The analysis of conflict and violence in Karachi presented here focuses on the processes that made Karachi an open city - openness to migration and informality.  The informalisation of public provisioning, which was often aided and abetted by state organisations, was premised on the legitimisation of private non-state arrangements for contract enforcement, and the strengthening of social networks based on kinship, ethnicity and sectarian identity.  Qualitative accounts of the histories of land use in six very different types of localities are interpreted using this approach, which offers an understanding of breakdown as well as recovery and the prospect of political negotiation."

Read the full paper [pdf].

Related articles:
200 lives lost to targeted killings in over one year, DAWN, 8 February 2010
Mix of politics and crime, DAWN, 17 January 2010

Related academic articles and reports:
Urban safety and poverty in Asia and the Pacific [pdf], United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and United Nations Human Settlements Programme, 2009
Tactical cities: Negotiating violence in Karachi, Pakistan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology // Department of Comparative Media Studies, 2008. Master's thesis.
Cities, terrorism and urban wars of 21st century [pdf], The London School of Economics // Crisis States Research Centre, February 2007

Related posts:
Karachi grinds to a halt amidst fatal attacks, political turmoil, 8 February 2010
Karachi bomb blasts kill Shiite worshipers, 5 February 2010
Targeted killings, ethnic violence plague Karachi, 25 January 2010
Karachi seen as key to Pakistan's future, 22 January 2010
Anti-terrorism act invoked after 256 target killings, 5 January 2010

Pakistan, US Capture Key Taliban Leader

Secret Joint Raid Captures Taliban’s Top Commander , The New York Times, 15 February 2010

EXCERPT: "The Taliban’s top military commander was captured several days ago in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret joint operation by Pakistani and American intelligence forces, according to American government officials. The commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is an Afghan described by American officials as the most significant Taliban figure to be detained since the American-led war in Afghanistan started more than eight years ago. He ranks second in influence only to Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban’s founder and a close associate of Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11 attacks. Mullah Baradar has been in Pakistani custody for several days, with American and Pakistani intelligence officials both taking part in interrogations, according to the officials. It was unclear whether he was talking, but the officials said his capture had provided a window into the Taliban and could lead to other senior officials. Most immediately, they hope he will provide the whereabouts of Mullah Omar, the one-eyed cleric who is the group’s spiritual leader."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Mullah Baradar arrest reports propaganda: Rehman Malik, DAWN, 16 February 2010
Are other Taliban leaders hiding in Karachi?, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 February 2010
How significant is Mullah Baradar's arrest?, BBC News, 16 February 2010
Opening a new front, The Economist, 16 February 2010
America’s new nightmare, Newsweek, 25 July 2009

Related media:
Taliban deny capture of their leader [video], Reuters, 16 February 2010
Kerry on Baradar capture [video], CBS News Online, 16 February 2010

Related posts:
Pak's complex relations with militant groups hinder Afghan success, 26 January 2010
Afghan Taliban leaders hiding in Karachi, 1 December 2009
Afghan Taliban chief hides in Pakistan, 20 November 2009
Why Pakistan won't fight the Afghan Taliban, 20 November 2009
The Taliban Quetta Shura: Fact or fiction?, 18 November 2009

Karachi and Af-Pak Policy Options

Karachi and Af-Pak Policy Options, South Asia Analysis Group, 7 February 2010

EXCERPT: "Pakistani leaders often project Jammu & Kashmir as Pakistan’s jugular vein in justification of their supporting jihadi terrorist groups against India in an attempt to change the status quo in J&K. It is not. Karachi is Pakistan’s jugular vein. It is the economic capital of Pakistan contributing a substantial part of Pakistan’s industrial production and tax revenue. It has Pakistan’s only functioning international port... It is still Pakistan’s most important naval base. Gwadar is being developed as an alternate naval base to reduce the vulnerability of the Pakistan Navy in Karachi, but it is estimated that it will take another five to eight years before Gwadar as a naval base starts functioning in a satisfactory manner... The renewed wave of violence in Karachi in recent weeks is not due to the ingress of the TTP into the city. It is due to two of the three old animosities, which have always made Karachi the most violent city of Pakistan. These three animosities are: the Mohajirs vs. the Sindhis, the Mohajirs vs. the Pashtuns, and the Punjabi Sunnis vs. the Mohajir Shias."

Read the full article.

Related articles:
Sectarian violence posing threat to Pakistani society, One World South Asia, 8 February 2010
Saving Pakistan's heartland, Foreign Policy, 8 February 2010
Taliban own Karachi Ashura carnage, DAWN, 31 December 2009
Q and A: Is Karachi the new target for Pakistani's Taliban?, Reuters, 31 December 2009
Are Pakistani Taliban finding new foothold in south?, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 May 2009

Related posts:
Karachi grinds to a halt amidst fatal attacks, political turmoil, 8 February 2010
Karachi bomb blasts kill Shiite worshipers, 5 February 2010
NATO Afghan convoy attacked in Karachi, 28 January 2010
Targeted killings, ethnic violence plague Karachi, 25 January 2010
Karachi seen as key to Pakistan's future, 22 January 2010

Karachi Grinds to a Halt Amidst Fatal Attacks, Political Turmoil

Karachi Grinds to a Halt Following Fatal Blasts, Asia Times Online, 9 February 2010

EXCERPT: "Business in Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital, ground to a halt at the weekend after at least 33 people were killed and over 100 injured in two explosions on Friday. The city of 18 million people houses the main stock exchange, central bank and offices of multinational corporations. Businessmen warn that Karachi, which contributes about 70% of the country's tax revenue, is fast becoming a 'no-business and no-trade city', as there is no protection to life and property... Higher than expected expenditure on security, power subsidies and cost overruns have already forced the government to slash by 30% the overall size of its Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) for the fiscal year that runs through to June 30. The country is dependent on external flows to keep its fiscal deficit within a target of 4.9% for the current fiscal year, yet trade activity has shrunk and dragged small businessmen into a severe financial turmoil and critics say the government has been least concerned with the problems of traders and common businessmen in the financial capital... . Local analysts see the problems in Karachi as a new development on the political front, straining ties between the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and its key partner, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), in the coalition government in southern Sindh province... Zardari is also facing calls to step down after the Supreme Court struck down an amnesty, the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO)..."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
95 held, arms seized in Karachi crackdown, GEO TV, 8 February 2010
Karachi violence blow to Pakistan economy, AFP, 7 February 2010
The unending turf wars, DAWN, 7 February 2010
The agony of Pakistan [blog], Reuters // Afghan Journal: Lifting the veil on conflict, culture and politics, 7 February 2010
Pakistani city tense as mourners bury bomb victims, Reuters, 6 February 2010

Related media:
What next for Pakistan? [video interview and commentary], Chatham House, 8 February 2010

Related posts:
Karachi bomb blasts kill Shiite worshipers, 5 February 2010
Lawmakers agree to end Karachi clashes, 4 February 2010
Karachi seen as key to Pakistan's future, 22 January 2010
Zardari re-emerges, but likely to face legal battle,  21 January 2010
Amnesty upheaval leading to "slow-burning disarray"?, 22 December 2009

Karachi Bomb Blasts Kill Shiite Worshipers

Pakistan Blasts Kill Shiite Worshipers, The New York Times, 5 February 2010

EXCERPT: "A huge bomb blast tore apart a bus carrying Shiites to a religious procession in the southern city of Karachi on Friday afternoon, and barely two hours later another lethal explosion struck a hospital where many of the wounded had been taken, police and hospital officials said. At least 25 people were killed and 100 more were wounded in the two attacks, which seemed to confirm fears that sectarian strife would accompany the annual Shiite religious observation. Friday marked Arbaeen, the 40th day of mourning of the death of Imam Hussein, the martyred grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and a figure revered by Shiites. Processions commemorating Imam Hussein’s death were taking place in several cities on Friday, and there were concerns before the blast that militants would use the occasion to stoke sectarian tensions. Waseem Ahmed, the Karachi police chief, said that an initial investigation showed the blasts were caused by remote controlled devices."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Security prevents ambulances from reaching civil hospital, DAWN, 5 February 2010
Karachi blues turn into reds, Huffington Post, 4 February 2010
Pakistan Taliban claims bombing that killed 44, CBC News, 30 December 2009
Religious sword over Pakistan [op-ed], Council on Foreign Relations, 21 May 2004

Related reports and academic articles:
Reviving Pakistan's pluralist traditions to fight extremism, The Heritage Foundation, 4 May 2009
Sectarianism in Pakistan: The radicalization of Shi'i and Sunni identities [pdf], Modern Asian Studies 38, no. 3, 1998

Related posts:
Lawmakers agree to end Karachi clashes, 4 February 2010
Troops deployed in tense Karachi, 3 February 2010
Targeted killings, ethnic violence plague Karachi, 25 January 2010
Karachi seen as key to Pakistan's future, 22 January 2010
Anti-terrorism act invoked after 256 target killings, 5 January 2010

Lawmakers Agree to End Karachi Clashes

Pakistan Lawmakers Agree to End Karachi Clashes With 80 Dead, Bloomberg, 4 February 2010

EXCERPT: "Pakistan’s  chief minister of the southern province of Sindh said lawmakers from different parties have agreed to end political violence that has claimed 80 lives in the commercial capital of Karachi. 'All the coalition partners have agreed in the best interests of the country to coordinate with each other,' Qaim Ali Shah told the provincial parliament in a speech today. The government yesterday gave the Pakistan Rangers, a paramilitary force, powers to conduct raids and carry out arrests in Karachi. Members of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party have been killed in gun battles since early January. 'The political parties blame each other instead of catching the main culprits' said Mahmood Ghaznavi, a former professor at Karachi University and an independent analyst. 'Any destabilization of Karachi will help anti-state elements so their involvement cannot be ruled out.' Pakistani Taliban fighters are moving from the country’s tribal northwest to Karachi to escape U.S. drone attacks and military action by Pakistani troops, the Combating Terrorism Center, which is part of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, said in a report last month."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Political solution  [op-ed], DAWN, 4 February 2010
MQM lashes out at PPP ministers, DAWN, 3 February 2010
Karachi mayor tries to clean up city, politics, NPR, 3 June 2008

Related posts:
NATO convoy attacked in Karachi, 28 January 2010
Targeted killings, ethnic violence plague Karachi, 25 January 2010
Karachi seen as key to Pakistan's future, 22 January 2010
Anti-terrorism act invoked after 256 target killings, 5 January 2010
Afghan Taliban leaders hiding in Karachi, 1 December 2009

Troops Deployed in Tense Karachi

Pakistani Troops Deployed in Tense Karachi Amid Clashes, BBC News, 3 February 2010

EXCERPT: "The authorities in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi have deployed paramilitary troops following several days of deadly clashes. The administration has also enforced a ban on public gatherings in the hope of controlling violence which has claimed at least 20 lives since the weekend. The clashes have taken place mainly between activists of the MQM and ANP, both part of the ruling coalition. The interior minister has now arrived in Karachi in a bid to defuse tensions. The latest killings appear to be the result of targeted attacks by gunmen loyal to rival political groups. In Karachi's Orangi town, both Pahstun activists working for the Awami National Party (ANP) and Urdu-speaking workers loyal to the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) party have set up road blocks."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Karachi killings politically motivated, DAWN, 3 February 2010
Eleven more killed as violence spreads in Karachi, DAWN, 3 February 2010
Pakistan political violence kills 37: Police, AFP, 3 February 2010
Violence haunts Karachi's streets, BBC News, 16 January 2010

Related posts:
Renewed violence in Karachi kills 17, 1 February 2010
Targeted killings, ethnic violence plague Karachi, 25 January 2010
Karachi seen as key to Pakistan's future, 22 January 2010
Continued violence in Karachi leads to new casualties, 11 January 2010
Anti-terrorism act invoked after 256 target killings, 5 January 2010

Renewed Violence in Karachi Kills 17

Fresh Political Violence Kills 17 in Karachi, Reuters, 1 February 2010

EXCERPT: "At least 17 people have been killed in three days of political violence in Pakistan's commercial capital Karachi, police said on Monday. Karachi police chief Waseem Ahmed said the violence erupted on Friday, when activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) clashed with those of the Awami National Party (ANP). Both the MQM, which dominates Karachi, and the ethnic Pashtun ANP are in a coalition led by President Asif Ali Zardari, who is already under presssure from a raging Taliban insurgency, the possibility that some of his aides will be prosecuted under revived corruption charges and a troubled economy. While investors in Pakistan have got used to almost daily Islamist violence in the northwest, bloodshed in Karachi has a more direct impact on financial market sentiment. 'At least 17 people have been killed in three days,' Ahmed told Reuters... Karachi has been largely been free of Islamist violence over the past couple of years, but a bomb at a minority Shi'ite Muslim procession in late December fueled concern that the militants were expanding their fight to the city."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Wave of political killings hits southern Pakistan, The Associated Press via Yahoo! News, 10 January 2010
Human rights defender names his alleged murderers shortly before his death; government fails to provide protection, Asian Human Rights Commission, 9 November 2009
Karachi violence continues, PM calls high-level meeting, DAWN, 9 June 2009
Running Pakistan's biggest city - from London, BBC News, 16 May 2007

Related academic article:
A divided city: "Ethnic" and "religious" conflict in Karachi, Pakistan [pdf], Centre d'études et de recherches internationales // SciencesPo, May 2003

Related posts:
Targeted killings, ethnic violence plague Karachi, 25 January 2010
Karachi seen as key to Pakistan's future, 22 January 2010
Continued violence in Karachi leads to new casualties, 11 January 2010
Fatal incidents throughout Karachi, 8 January 2010
Anti-terrorism act invoked after 256 target killings, 5 January 2010

NATO Afghan Convoy Attacked in Karachi

Rare Afghanistan Convoy Attack in Normally Safe Pakistan City, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 January 2010

EXCERPT: "A NATO convoy came under assault Thursday while carrying supplies through Pakistan to Afghanistan in a rare ambush inside Karachi, the relatively secure port city from which 300 to 400 of the coalition’s trucks leave each day. Any assault on the Pakistani supply route is worrisome to the US-led forces in Afghanistan, who use it to ship three-quarters of their materials and will need it even more as the surge of 30,000 US troops progresses. But the attack in Karachi – which is the commercial capital of Pakistan, and has largely escaped the bomb attacks troubling other major cities and the northwest – raises particular concern, especially if it marks the beginning of a trend. 'We will have to increase our vigilance to ensure that such attacks do not become commonplace,' said a police investigator at the Special Investigation Unit, which runs counterterrorism operations in the city. As a sign of NATO’s desire to loosen its dependence on the Pakistan route, which comes under frequent attack, the organization said Wednesday it had secured agreement from Kazakhstan to allow transit of nonlethal supplies into Afghanistan. This paves the way for an alternate supply route that also includes Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
NATO, Kazakhstan agree on overland supply route to Afghanistan, The Canadian Press, 27 January 2010
Taliban attack NATO supply route, The Washington Times, 26 March 2009
Pakistan briefly reopens key NATO supply route, The New York Times, 2 January 2009
Pakistan shuts NATO supply route, The Australian, 17 November 2008
New Al-Qaeda focus on NATO supplies, Asia Times Online, 12 August 2008

Related reports:
The Northern Distribution Network and the Modern Silk Road: Planning for Afghanistan’s future, Center for Strategic and International Studies via the Human Security Gateway, 17 January 2010
Karachi becoming a Taliban safe haven? [pdf, page 13], CTC Sentinel, January 2010

Related posts:
Karachi seen as key to Pakistan's future, 22 January 2010
Continued violence in Karachi leads to new casualties, 11 January 2010
Karachi's new resolve against Taliban, 7 January 2010
Afghan Taliban leaders hiding in Karachi, 1 December 2009
NATO supply routes in Pakistan under threat, 13 November 2009

Targeted Killings, Ethnic Violence Plague Karachi

Politics, Karachi Style [blog], The AfPak Channel // Foreign Policy, 22 January 2010

EXCERPT: "The Arabian and Indo-Australian tectonic plates meet near Karachi, the Pakistani port city inhabited by at least 15 million people.  But in recent weeks, Karachi has been reeling from violent seismic activity along its ethnic and political fault lines -- not the collision of geological plates nearby. Two days ago, armed Sindhi and Pashtun activists exchanged tit-for-tat murders in the middle class Gulistan-e Jauhar area. Since the start of this year, targeted killings have claimed the lives of over 41 political workers. And in the last six months of 2009, there were 256 political assassinations in the city, according to Pakistan's interior ministry. An uptake in ethnic and political violence in Karachi is cause for concern for the prospects for Pakistan's political stability and national cohesion.  Karachi is a microcosm of Pakistan as virtually all of its ethnic groups and power brokers are represented there. Massive civil unrest in Karachi is an indicator of the strength of centrifugal tendencies inside multi-ethnic Pakistan, which has historically been deeply challenged in managing its diversity."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Four arrested over Pakistan bombings, The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 January 2010
Arrest of Jundullah men linked to Ashura day blast: Nothing but the truth?, Daily Times, 25 January 2010
Violence in the streets of Karachi, The Huffington Post, 4 May 2009
Tense Karachi returns to normal, BBC News, 2 December 2008
Karachi violence stokes renewed ethnic tension, IRIN News, 15 May 2007

Related posts:
Karachi seen as key to Pakistan's future, 22 January 2010
Continued violence in Karachi leads to new casualties, 11 January 2010
Fatal incidents throughout Karachi, 8 January 2010
Karachi's new resolve against Taliban, 7 January 2010
Anti-terrorism act invoked after 256 target killings, 5 January 2010