KARACHI, May 22: The gang warfare in Lyari has flared up once again as rival groups have taken up positions in the buildings in their respective control, and exchanges of fire echo in the surrounding areas of Tannery Road, Ahmed Shah Bukhari Road and Chawkiwara.

Wednesday was the fifth consecutive day when bursts from automatic weapons rattled various parts of the locality. Eidu Lane, Pulpathi Lane, Rangiwara, Gul Mohammad Lane and Singoolane are the worst affected areas.

Patients visiting the Lyari General Hospital are facing hardship in reaching the hospital as rikhshaw and taxi drivers refuse to enter the distrubed areas. Area people told Dawn that the gangesters using automatic weapons had intensified their fights to wrest control of certain neighbourhoods from one another.

Law-enforcement agencies disappear from the areas when exchanges of fire intensify. “Whenever firing between the rival groups begins, the police deputed in the area immediately disappear and return to their positions only when the firing stops,” says an area resident.

Many people have left the area for fear of their lives. They say police have done little to halt the violence.

Residents say one of the major causes of the flare-up in the warfare is an attempt to control the business and property of the rival groups. They allege that the law-enforcers are backing one group or another.

The troubled area of Lyari falls in the jurisdiction of four police stations -- Kalri, Baghdadi, Kalakot and Chakiwara.

They complained that on the part of the government no serious efforts were made to curb the criminal activities and claims about busting criminals gangs were confined to the media only.

People also charged that narcotics and gambling dens were being run under the patronage of police officers. “Whenever police arrest criminals, police officers backing them get them freed,” said a resident.

A community leader said police booked people who had nothing to do with the gang warfare only to show that arrests were being made to contain the violence.

He deplored that the PPP had a stronghold in Lyari but it did nothing to control the situation which had badly affected the social and econmic life of the people who had always voted for it.

Exchanges of fire and killings have become a routine in the area, forcing people to stay indoors and in many areas people have stopped sending their children to school.

People are so panic-striken that they do not even talk about the gangs.

A senior social worker, wishing not to be named, said: “Though it is a small group, they are controlling a vast area owing to their gunpower and police inefficiency. They roam freely in the narrow lanes, flaunting their arms and resorting to aerial firing to terrorise people.”