Election violence leaves 25 dead in Pakistan

At least 25 people have been killed in gun battles in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, as voters went to the polls to elect a new regional assembly member.

18 October 2010, 12:00am

1 min read

The election was called after the murder of politician Raza Haider in August.

The violence is being linked to feuding gangs controlled by the city's main political parties, although police said they were still investigating the motives behind the shootings.

The two parties most linked to violence in Karachi - the Muttahida Quami Movement and the Awami National Party - have their electoral bases in the different groups that make up a large chunk of the city's population.

Haider, the member of the provincial assembly who was gunned down in August, was a senior member of the MQM.

In the wake of the shooting, the MQM accused the ANP of supporting Islamist militants suspected of being behind the murder.

The ANP denies the claims.

Zulfiqar Mirza, the home minister of Sindh province of which Karachi is the capital, called on party leaders to come forward "to help us turn Karachi back into the city of light and peace".

Mr Mirza said the dead included members of a broad range of ethnic groups in the city.