May 09, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 3, 1429

KARACHI, May 8: An eight-year-old girl became the latest casualty of the Lyari gang warfare on Thursday morning when a stray bullet hit her while she was standing in the balcony of her apartment in the strife-torn area.

The incident occurred a little before 7am, when Bisma, daughter of Azmatullah, was preparing for school.

She had gone to the balcony to see what was going on in the nearby Ali Mohammad Mohallah.

The wounded girl was rushed by the family to the Civil Hospital, where she died shortly afterwards.

Police said that apparently a bullet from the crossfire between the warring gangs hit the little girl. Both gangs had traded fire intermittently throughout the night and into the morning.

Police said they had already quit the area they had surrounded on Wednesday.

This was the first casualty of an innocent resident since a police operation against the gangsters in Lyari was launched on Wednesday.

However, a senior police officer said the little girl was killed after police had withdrawn from the area and the two gangs were exchanging fire.

Unlike Wednesday, Lyari witnessed a relatively clam day on Thursday as police did not venture into the locality to carry out the second day of operation.

“We called off the operation for the day for strategic reasons and held meetings to discuss the operation,” Lyari SP Imran Shaukat said.

However, he declined to say when the operation against the two gangs would resume.