Once again, terrorism shakes Karachi

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KARACHI, Pakistan -- Karachi remains a vulnerable city where the fault lines of terrorism and crime crisscross, as proven by the Ashura day attack.

After a week of strikes to protest and mourn the bombing that killed more than 45 people December 28, things are getting back to normal as reconstruction of the burned Boulton Market shops picks up pace.

But like any other city, diverse criminal elements -- terrorists, their affiliates and the city's criminal underworld -- fight for control, and that has the city on edge.

"Large numbers of Waziris and Mehsuds fleeing operations in Pakistan's insurgency-hit tribal areas are settling down in Karachi, undermining the security environment of the city", said Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) convener Farooq Sattar.

The city is no stranger to terrorism. In the past, numerous high-profile terror attacks targeted Karachi. A deadly attack on a French naval engineers’ bus, suicide attacks on the US Consulate, and the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl, all earned Karachi the title of 'Terrorism Capital of Pakistan' before the terror campaign shifted upcountry.

While Karachi police have periodically arrested militants, the Ashura attack proves once again the failure of intelligence and the law enforcement agencies in anticipating a terrorist attack and preventing its fallout.

Part of this is "bad coordination between the intelligence and several of the law enforcement agencies, their motivation and training", a security analyst said.

"Intelligence is very poor", said a senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Intelligence in hardly actionable. Most of the time it is a generalised assessment" he said, instead of a report citing a particular group planning a specific action.

Part of the tension stems from the fact that the city houses hundreds of madrassas and, consequently, a large number of sectarian affiliated organisations with strong militant factions.

The industrial-based economy of Karachi draws people from all over the country because of its opportunities. Not only has Karachi become a haven for those with militant leanings, "It also generates lots of funding for the ongoing terrorism in tribal areas, as well as in Afghanistan", Farooq said.

“Much of this assertion is true. As in the past, (the funds from) many major bank heists have ended up in hands of terrorist networks fighting the government in tribal areas. So have the criminal proceeds of several kidnappings", said Mir Zubair Mahmood, Director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Sindh province.

Besides this, a large chunk of the population "faithfully donated to the jihadi outfits," said Mir Zubair, who is currently prosecuting a money exchange scam. The flow of donations suffered a blow after people witnessed the terrorism in Swat, the hideous treatment of women and the campaign against education".

The investigations remain another problem area. In the immediate aftermath of the December 28 violence, Interior Minister Rehman Malik in Islamabad, and the Inspector General (IG) of Sindh, Salahuddin Babar Khattak in Karachi, initially termed it a suicide attack.

They were rebuffed soon afterward when people identified the suspected bomber as one of the "scouts manning the Ashura procession". This was affirmed by some intelligence officials. "The police, in order to save their skin and avoid hard work, describe every bombing as suicidal", said one angry religious leader.

Another gaping hole in police performance lies in the area of enforcement. It failed to stem the subsequent arson and destruction unleashed on the Boulton Market. This 3-kilometre wide business district of Karachi houses numerous banks, businesses, the stock exchange and warehouses.

Preliminary losses are estimated at about 35 billion rupees (US$412 million) and more than 10,000 people have lost their jobs.

The attack affected trading in other wholesale markets as the Boulton Market supplies plastic-ware to the entire country. Many exporters also operate from this market.

According to Pakistan Muslim League leader Mushahid Hussain, the area contributes as much as 25 percent of all taxes collected in the country. Mushahid visited the 400-odd shops and warehouses that were damaged or destroyed in the fire, which raged for nearly three days.

"The police acted without any contingency planning", said a senior police source. “They did not even protect the fire engines, open aerial firing or even fire tear gas shells to disperse the mob".

The city’s CCTV cameras show how teams of masked arsonists wearing gloves would open the shutters of shops, ransack them and set them on fire. While all this went on, the footage showed, police and rangers stood by and watched, without taking action.

”The Rangers and Police were trying to save their lives while we begged them to take some action”, said Saleem Teli, who lost a shop in the riot. Teli called for additional help to rebuild the lives of businessmen who lost everything, adding, “The government is offering a meagre Rs 3 billion for rebuilding, which is peanuts”.