Karachi, Aug 2: At least 31 people have been killed since Monday in the latest bout of ethnically fuelled violence in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi.
 Officials said 11 people had so far been shot dead on Tuesday, while 20 were killed the previous day.
 Targeted killings and clashes claimed more than 200 lives in Karachi in July.
 Armed groups supported by Pakistan's main political parties are said to be responsible. Police officials say the groups are controlled by criminals.
 But critics say that Pakistan's ruling coalition appears unwilling to bring them to account.
 Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Karachi was enduring "a reign of terror and bloodshed", and that the government would pursue "every possible action to restore peace".
 "We have ordered surveillance planes to be brought to Karachi for locating and weeding out the killers," he added.
 "I want to warn those... miscreants that... you have tested the government enough. Neither our people nor our government will tolerate any more of this. There will be strict action... I won't say anything else now. You will see the action yourself."
 Provincial home department official Sharfuddin Memon told the AFP news agency on Tuesday that gunfire could still be heard in one of the city's worst-affected districts, Surjani, which is a stronghold of criminal gangs.
 "The criminals want to destabilise the efforts for a permanent peace in the city," he said.
 Police said dozens of motorcycles were set alight inside a factory, and that a roadside restaurant and several vehicles were also torched.
 In a recent report, the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said 490 people had been killed in targeted killings in Karachi during the first half of the year, compared with 748 in 2010.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 2 Aug 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 2 Aug 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 3 Aug 2011 00:00:00 IST