KARACHI, Jan 5: A total of 748 people lost their lives to targeted killings in the city last year, up from the 272 victims in 2009, says a report released by the Sindh chapter of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Wednesday.

According to the report, a total of 1,981 people — 1,726 men, 177 women and 78 children — were killed last year. The data does not include those killed in road accidents.

Of the 447 victims of targeted killings, 215 were killed apparently for their association with major political, religious and nationalist parties, 187 for their ethnic background and 23 on sectarian grounds. Twenty-two people belonging to banned militant groups, including Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan and Jaish Mohammad, were gunned down in the city.

The report says that of the 215 victims who were killed reportedly due to their association with political, religious and nationalist parties, 64 belonged to the MQM, 44 to the ANP, 43 to the MQM(H), 32 to the PPP, four to the PPP(S), one each to the PML(N), PML(Q), PML(F) and Punjabi Front, eight to the ST, three to the JI, two to the JUI, 15 to the JAS, seven to the PPI and two to the JSQM.

The human rights commission report equally focuses on the killings of women and children in the city last year.

It says that 177 women were killed in 2010 due to following reasons: 18 women died from burning, 16 women died in bomb blast, seven women were killed in the name of honour, five died while resisting armed robberies, three were found dead on railway tracks, two died in stampede, one in an ethnic clash, one died in prison, one in Lyari gang warfare, 57 were killed by their relatives, 30 were killed due to personal dispute, six were killed because of freewill marriage, six others because they refused to marry against their freewill, four were killed by their ex-husbands, two were killed because of unknown reasons, two were raped before being killed.

According to the data, 78 children were killed in 2010. Of them, 17 children after from falling into manholes, storm-water drains and from electrocution, eight children were killed in cross-firing, seven children were kidnapped, and sexually abused before being murdered, six died in bomb blast, six children were killed because of alleged illicit relations of their mothers, six were killed by stray bullets, five were killed by their close relatives due to different reasons, four were killed on resisting robberies, three were kidnapped, abused and tortured to death, three children died by kite string, three were killed in targeted attacks, two died in fire incidents, two were killed in Lyari gang warfare, two were killed during ethnic clashes, two infants were found dead in garbage dump, one child found dead on railway track and one child was killed by police.

The report says that 98 males and 35 females committed suicide and eight males and 14 females attempted to commit suicide.

In all, 187 ethnic killings were reported last year. The figure includes 184 men, one woman and two children who were killed due to their ethnic background.