KARACHI: The early Monday morning killings in Mowachh Goth showed that the persistent ‘gang warfare’ in Lyari has spilled over to other Baloch-dominated localities across the city.

Even those living or working in localities adjoining the area are targeted on suspicion of being informers of either of the two groups led by Noor Mohammad aka Baba Ladla and Uzair Baloch of the banned Peoples Amn Committee.

In the early hours of Monday, five men — Shoaib Baloch, Ismail Baloch, Jawed Baloch, Taj Mohammad and Faisal — of the same family were killed in front of their home in Mowachh Goth. At 1pm, four bodies were shifted to Faqeer Colony in Orangi Town, while the body of Faisal was sent to another part of Orangi.

A small van of the Mominabad police station was parked at a corner of the street. Men were sitting under a tent while the main entrance to the victims’ house was partially covered with a white cloth sheet.

Three of the five men killed were professional boxers, residents told Dawn. The youngest of them — Shoaib Baloch — was about to get a professional membership of the Rangers Boxing Club, a boxing association in Lyari. His father, Sher Mohammad, overcome with grief and shocked by the killings, was being taken care of by a relative.

Their coach and general secretary of the Boxing Association in Orangi and Lyari, Asghar Baloch, was sitting with his head bowed. The only time he looked up was when the mourners came his way and mumbled their condolence over the deaths. “I’d like to point out that these men were not criminals,” he said in a firm tone. “Except Shoaib, all were married and have left their families. If they were criminals we would have known it.”

An office-bearer of the Pakistan Peoples Party in Faqeer Colony, Rashid Raees, said the men had been getting threats since the start of the infighting between the two groups last year. “They moved from Lyari to a bigger home in Mowachh Goth long before the fights began due to marriages within the family. But they frequently visited Lyari to see friends and relatives. This caused suspicion among the gang members.”

Faqeer Colony residents alleged that Shoaib and his uncles were murdered by Uzair’s men. “His group was alleging that these men were reporting to Lala Orangi — a man said to be the right-hand man of Baba Ladla in Lyari,” a resident said.

Requesting anonymity, another office-bearer of the PPP from Lyari said the residents were moving to safe places for fear of being targeted by gunmen on both sides. “But the fight has spilled over to other Baloch-dominated areas as well. This is more like a tribal warfare now. Nobody’s being spared,” he said.