KARACHI, May 25: An uneasy calm prevailed on Saturday in the affected parts of Lyari — from Juna Masjid to Agra Taj and Bihar Colony — after a week-long exchange of gunfire that left at least 12 people dead and 15 others wounded.

“We have heard no sound of fire since morning, yet tension in the densely-populated localities is palpable,” said Saleem Memon, a provincial government employee and resident of the Kalri neighbourhood.

He said some influential representatives from the Kutchhi and Baloch populations had temporarily barricaded the street, which linked the two communities, in the morning as a means to avoid any further violence and removed it in the evening.

“It is still very tense as people of the two sides are in a state of uncertainty, with shops and schools being closed. Most residents hesitate to go to peaceful areas to get food etc,” he said.

Officials and representatives of the Kutchhi and Baloch communities, who met the deputy commissioner on Friday and formed a committee to ensure a lasting peace in Lyari, claimed that the calm was because of their concerted efforts.

“The situation is still fluid, we still suspect one another, but at least the exchange of gunfire from the two sides has died down,” said a member of the committee.

However, a shopkeeper in Agra Taj Colony, Ashfaq Baloch, said he had heard gunfire on Saturday morning, followed by daylong deafening silence. “Our streets are still deserted as nobody knows when it may start all over again,” he added.

District south deputy commissioner Mustafa Jamal Qazi said the committee established on Friday in a meeting at his office comprised three members from the Kutchhi and Baloch communities each. While MPAs-elect Javed Nagori and Sania Naz would act as mediators, he added.

The district administration, police and paramilitary Rangers each will nominate one representative for the committee being headed by the deputy commissioner himself.

The committee will meet once a week to discuss law and order in the affected parts of Lyari.

The committee will recommend to the administration to establish check posts at the places identified by committee members and take action against ‘miscreants’.

“We’ll establish check posts in the areas identified by the committee members in writing. Everything we do will be properly documented. We’ll keep such information secret and will take targeted action at the right time,” said Mr Qazi.

Representatives from the administration and Rangers were included in the committee after some participants in the Friday meeting had expressed their dissatisfaction over the performance and ‘sincerity’ of police.

Third force

During the meeting, they said, some ‘hard’ evidence came up indicating the possibility of a ‘third gang’, which was trying to penetrate in Lyari from Agra Taj Colony.

“It was discussed in the meeting that the pathways from where the third gang tried to enter were near the areas inhabited by the Kutchhis. It started because of a lack of trust between the Katchhi Rabita Committee and the Peoples Amn Committee (now disbanded),” said a police official.

“In fact Kutchhis got sandwiched as they had to face the wrath of the enemy they knew and another they did not know,” he added.

Officials said the representatives of the two communities had been warned that they had just one option left, i.e. to depend on the government machinery and identify the ‘third force’ and everyone responsible for unrest in the troubled neighbourhoods.

In the meeting, the officials said, the two sides had been asked to convey to the warring groups to maintain peace or ‘be ready for forceful action’.

Apart from maintaining peace in Lyari, Mr Qazi said, the committee would also see to the development projects and health and education issues to help restore normality to the affected localities.