KARACHI, Pakistan, July 8 (UPI) -- Pakistani police have issued shoot-to-kill orders and staged mass arrests to stem violence in Karachi, officials said Friday.
Sharjeel Memon, Sindh province information minister, told the Los Angeles Times police have orders to shoot on sight gunmen responsible for the spiraling violence. At least 80 people have been killed in the last four days.
National Interior Minister Rehman Malik said police arrested 89 people Thursday night.
"Whoever is doing this has a program to destabilize Pakistan," he said. "And they always target Karachi, because this is the hub of economic activity."
Business in much of the city of 18 million was shut down Friday as the Urdu-speaking Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which represents Muslims who fled India after partition in 1947, called a day of mourning.
The MQM and the rival Awami National Party, supported by ethnic Pashtuns, blame each other for inciting violence.
"I don't think there will be normal business on Friday," Ateeq Meer, chairman of the Alliance of Market Associations, told the Dawn newspaper.
Managers of retail and wholesale markets, gasoline stations and transport companies all expected to shut down.
Karachi has been in the grips of ethnic, political and targeted killings for months, with violence resuming periodically.
In the latest round, which began this week, nearly three dozen people died Thursday, most of them shot, authorities said.
The News International reported another 80 people were injured in Thursday's violence, as law enforcement authorities seemed unable to control it.
The worst-hit sections of the city included Orangi Town, Qasba Colony and Banaras, where armed men attacked buses and coaches and set fire to several homes and shops.
The latest wave of violence erupted after an attack that wounded an ANP official in Orangi Town.
President Asif Ali Zardari called for a high-level meeting Friday to discuss the situation in the city.
Earlier in the week, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan warned targeted killings in Karachi were on the rise. The group said a total of 1,138 people died in the city in the first six months of this year as a result of targeted and other acts of violence.
