Eight killed in religious groups' clashes

At least eight persons were killed and over a dozen injured in armed clashes between different religious groups in various areas of the city during the last 24 hours, police said. According to details, the clashes between the activists of Jamat-ud-Dawa and Sunni Tehreek (ST) erupted on Friday, after a controversy over possession of a Mosque namely Jama Masjid Ummul Qura, turned violent.
The Mosque is located in Landhi in the limits of Landhi Police Station. Sources claimed, the Mosque belonged to Jamaat Ahle Hadees and was dominated by the supporters of Jamat-ud-Dawa but some ST workers reached there after Friday prayers to get control of the Mosque, which led to skirmishes between the two religious fractions.
Some 14 persons received bullet wounds in the violence while Mohsin, 35, son of the Masjid Committee, Niaz succumbed to his injuries on the way to hospital. The injured Jameela, 70, wife of Alauddin, Salman, Aurangzeb, Umer Hamad, Muhammad Haris, Kamran, Babar, Rehan Qadri, Muhammad Nadir, Usman Attari, Maulana Nazir Ahmad, Mujeeb Ahmad and Arif, were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).
Following the incident, all commercial and social activities came to a halt in various localities of Landhi where protesters belonging to the two religious groups took to streets and resorted to aerial firing. They also pelted stones on moving vehicles.
Later, heavy contingents of police rushed to the scene and brought the situation under control after 2 to 3 hours of struggle. They also baton charged the protestors and used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Police said the two religious groups had been at odds over the possession of the Mosque for the last 17 years but the situation became worse when a construction work was started in the Mosque. No case was registered till filing of this report.
Meanwhile, a spokesman of Jamat-ud-Dawa, Naeem, claimed that no illegal activity was being carried out at the Mosque. He held the ST activists responsible for the incident. However, a spokesman of Sunni Tehreek, Faheem Sheikh, while condemning the incident alleged that the workers of Jamat-ud-Dawa were behind the violence.
Meanwhile, armed clashes, which erupted on Thursday, between the activists of defunct SSP and Sunni Tehreek (ST), over getting control of a hospital, located at Muslim stop, Godhra, has so far claimed seven lives. Over a dozen people had received bullets wounds in the clashes. Later, seven of the injured succumbed to their injuries.
On late Thursday, an activist of ST namely Muslim, son of Nawaz Ahmad, was gunned down while another person, Faisal, was injured over the issue. The violence led to suspension of all commercial and social activities in the area.