KARACHI, Sept 3: A total of 227 political activists were killed in targeted attacks in the first eight months of the current year, said a report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Monday.

The report entitled ‘Killings in Karachi — January to August 2012’ said that overall 1,725 people perished in the city during this period. Of them, 1,345 people were killed in targeted attacks, 146 in action related to law-enforcement agencies personnel, while 78 children and 107 women were killed in different incidents.

The report was based on newspaper reports.

Thirty-four people were killed in sectarian attacks, 226 were abducted and killed, 493 non- political people and 227 political activists were murdered, two persons burnt to death, 52 people killed by robbers, 137 killed over enmity, 47 bodies were found, seven security guards were murdered, five persons died in prison, 11 in bomb blasts, 93 in Lyari gang warfare and 11 were murdered in the name of Karo-kari, or honour.

During the eight months 66 people were killed in alleged police encounters and three in police custody. Sixty-eight policemen and eight soldiers/ paramilitary personnel were killed, while one person was allegedly killed by a soldier/ paramilitary man, says the report.

Seventy-eight children were also killed during this period. Of them, seven died after falling into canals/ open drains, seven children were abducted and killed, eight abducted, raped and killed, four killed in the Lyari gang warfare, 14 killed by stray bullets, 10 died in targeted attacks, two killed over Karo-kari, six killed by robbers, seven bodies of newborns were found, two children were killed after ransom was paid, one child was allegedly killed by a soldier/paramilitary personnel, three died on railway tracks, and one was killed in a bomb blast.

In the first eight months of the year, 107 women were killed in the city. Of them 39 were killed by relatives, 19 by unidentified people, four were burnt to death, four killed by robbers and four other were killed in the Lyari gang warfare. Fifteen women were killed over Karo-kari, 18 in targeted attacks, one by stray bullets, one by drug addicts, one woman was killed in a bomb blast and one in a railway track accident. The report says 40 people were killed in other incidents. Of them, six were drug addicts found dead, 11 were killed by stray bullets, 14 men were killed on railway tracks, while 18 died from consuming toxic liquor.—PPI