KARACHI, Aug 1: There was no let-up in the spate of killings on the first day of the month when 20 people lost their lives in different parts of the city surpassing the daily average death toll of last month.

In July alone, 318 people were killed in the city, police said. Of them, 100 lost their lives in Orangi Town only in four days, they added.

The Surjani Town area, which has become a flashpoint in the recent wave of violence, witnessed three more killings on Monday.

A day back, five people been had been shot dead in the same area.

Asked about the identity of the groups involved in the violence, SSP for District West Asif Ajaz told Dawn that apparently the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party were fighting it out.

“In Surjani Town, we have arrested two suspects and seized two pistols found in their possession, besides picking up seven arsonists,” the SSP said.

Despite the police claims about arrests, residents of the strife-hit areas remained confined to their homes on Monday.

The police said that unidentified armed men riding motorbikes killed Habibur Rehman, 45, Naeem Niaz, 30, and Imran Husain, 26, in the Khuda Ki Basti, Taiser Town and Yousaf Goth areas of Surjani Town.

“The three men were targeted apparently due to their ethnic background, for they didn’t belong to any political party,” said a police official of the area.

In Orangi Town, two people were found shot dead, the area police said.

The officials added that Kamran Hanif, an activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, was found shot dead in MPR Colony.

The police suspected that he had been kidnapped before being gunned down.

An unidentified young man was found shot dead near Al Badar Madressah in Orangi Town, the police said.

Following the recovery of the two bodies in Orangi Town, some miscreants attacked with sticks and batons the people standing at bus stops.

Earlier, the old city areas of Pak Colony and Old Golimar became tense when two persons, including an MQM worker, were found shot dead in Dhobi Ghat.

The police said that only one of the victims could be identified. They added that Ashfaq Ahmed was an MQM worker.

In other parts of the city, more than a dozen people were gunned down.

An activist of the Pakistan People’s Party, Munawar Husain, was targeted by armed persons riding a motorcycle, said an official of the Mobina Town police station. The victim was rushed to a nearby private hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Tension gripped the area with closure of markets following the killing.

A man and his son were gunned down in an attack outside their house in Block-S of North Nazimabad, the area police said. Zar Lal, 60, was sitting along with his son Niaz Khan outside their house when armed men riding a motorbike opened fire on them and fled, said an official of the Shahrah-i-Noor Jahan police station.

In the early hours of Monday, armed men killed a restaurant owner and wounded his employee in Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

Hayatullah and Shahid, the Sajji house owner and the employee, respectively, were targeted in Block 17, police said.

A policeman posted in the special branch, Tariq Daad, was killed in the Sharafi Goth area of Landhi while heading to work in the early hours, officials said. The victim was father of seven children, the police said.

An estate agent, Shah Karim, was killed and four others were wounded in firing on a bus stop in New Karachi Allahwali Chowrangi, police said. The incident caused tension in the area.

A man, Abdul Hakim, was killed and a woman, Rukhsana, was wounded in an attack on their van within the remit of the Site-A police station, officials said. The police added that the body and the wounded woman were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

On Dalmia Road, a young man, Asif, son of Dost Mohammad, was gunned down by unidentified armed riders, said an official of the Aziz Bhatti police station.

An unidentified person was found shot dead in the nearby cement factory area, the official added.

A 30-year-old man, Abdul Qadir, was killed and his 25-year-old friend, Bilal, wounded when unknown armed men targeted them in Shesha Gali of the Bhora Pir area within the remit of the Aram Bagh police station.

The bodies of two unidentified men were found stuffed in gunny bags in Eidgah area in Nazimabad within the remit of the Shamim Shaheed police station.

In the late hours, a 30-year-old man, Farhan, was shot dead near Safoora Goth within the remit of the Sachal police station, officials said.

According to the official figures of the police department, a total of 1,241 people have been killed in different incidents in the city between Jan 1 and July 31.