UNTIL intelligence-led efforts to uproot sectarian militancy start delivering results, faith-based killings will only grow in Karachi and add to the already lethal mix of violence in the metropolis. Thursday was an example of the kind of almost calculated sectarian bloodshed that can engulf the city within a short span of time. Within a few hours, at least nine people had been killed, on what appeared to be largely sectarian grounds. A Shia scholar and two Sunni madressah caretakers were among the victims. It is unclear whether these were tit-for-tat murders or the work of some other elements determined to push Karachi into communal strife. What is clear, though, is that Thursday’s body count reflects a failure of both the intelligence apparatus as well as the much-touted operation that began last September to cleanse the metropolis of violent groups and criminals.

Whenever such attacks take place, the police give almost rehearsed statements blaming the bloodshed on the ‘ongoing wave of targeted killings’. For the most part, the case is considered closed after assigning murders to the targeted killing pile. It is fair to assume that deep down inside, the intelligence agencies know where the hubs of sectarian militancy in Karachi are located. Hence what is needed is an intelligence-led operation that targets these hubs. Simply sending in the police or Rangers into a locality in the name of an operation won’t do. It must also be noted that it is usually the supporters and sympathisers of banned groups — the small fry — that are rounded up, while the killers and masterminds are rarely caught by the law enforcers. And if a ‘third force’ is at work, what have the authorities done so far to unmask the perpetrators? Indeed, sectarian violence has replaced ethnic bloodshed as Karachi’s number one law and order headache. The city is home to all schools of thought and ethno-linguistic communities and has become the biggest sectarian flashpoint in the country. Any faith-based violence here has an impact nationally, and vice versa. The city has seen enough lives snuffed out simply on the basis of the victims’ religious beliefs. It is time the state addressed this major security challenge before the situation implodes.