KARACHI: At least nine people have been killed and several others injured in Karachi in a fresh spate of violence on Sunday, a day after 20 people lost their lives in similar incidents in the port city, DawnNews reported.

Unidentified gunmen on motorcycles opened fire at an automobile workshop in Karachi’s Orangi Town area, killing three people – a father and his two sons – on the spot.

Another man was gunned down in the city SITE industrial area, while a a bullet-riddled body was found early Sunday from Meethadar’s Sarafa Market area.

Three people were killed in firing incidents near Martin Quarters and Soldier Bazaar. Unknown terrorists opened fire in Manghopir, killing one person.

Meanwhile, a clash between two rival armed groups left eight people wounded, including a reporter for a local television channel and an ambulance driver. The incident happened near the Edhi centre in restive Sohrab Goth area of the city.

Sunday's bloodshed followed in the wake of one of the city's deadliest days in the recent past, with at least 20 killed  — almost half of them victims of sectarian killings — on Saturday.

The deadliest episode occurred when six students of the 'Madressah Ahsan-ul-Uloom' seminary — all in their early 20s —were gunned down by at least six men in an armed attack on a roadside tea shop in Gulshan-i-Iqbal area.  Among other deadly incidents, a worker of the Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat was also gunned down in North Nazimabad.

“On the face of it, there is no other reason than tit-for-tat killing on sectarian grounds,” DIG east Shahid Hayat told Dawn on Saturday, when asked about the suspected motive behind the day's killings. “Unless other aspect is proved, we believe there is sectarianism behind the recent killings carried out in different parts of Karachi.”

It was unclear whether Sunday's killings were also linked to the recent wave of sectarian bloodshed.

President Asif Ali Zardari has taken notice of the deteriorating situation in Karachi and has ordered law enforcement agencies to take action.

In various areas of Karachi police and rangers have now started carrying out search operations.

Two extortionists were arrested in Quaidabad, DawnNews reported. Rangers have arrested the head of a terrorist group in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

Four other people have been arrested in Qayyumabad and North Nazimabad after rangers carried out a search operation.

Two people were arrested in Machar colony, while nine suspects have been arrested in Sohrab Goth.