THE macabre drama of targeted killings in Karachi keeps repeating itself, with the violence alternately taking ethnic, political and sectarian hues. The most recent episode in this gruesome series had a sectarian colour, with four activists of the Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat killed in the metropolis in as many days. The latest incident saw the spokesman of the party being gunned down on Wednesday as he was getting his vehicle's tyre changed. The ASWJ is of course the newest avatar of the proscribed Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, a virulently sectarian outfit. It is a miracle that the killings have not sparked large-scale violence in this edgy city, with the exception of brief rioting following the murder of a party activist on Monday. However, the frequency of the murders is alarming and could lead to escalation. The communal cauldron is already bubbling in Karachi and it will not take much for it to boil over.

Sectarian and ethnic groups are clearly active and settling scores through the barrel of the gun. Yet the Sindh government and the law-enforcement apparatus have abdicated their responsibility of keeping the peace. It seems the authorities are looking the other way while rival militants wipe out each other. But this approach is not sustainable. If the vendettas escalate, they will have very negative consequences for the city. Clearly, if rival militants can spot and eliminate each other, why can't the police work to neutralise these violent elements? According to the police's own data, there were 249 cases of targeted killings in the first seven months of this year; charge-sheets have been submitted in only seven cases while 233 incidents are pending investigation. This indicates that the police need to do much more to investigate these cases and prevent further bloodshed, while the state must speed up efforts to defang all violent sectarian outfits.