President Asif Ali Zardari, on Tuesday expressed grief and shock over the continued violence and target killings in Karachi and called upon the provincial government to take urgent steps to restore normalcy. Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the President also sought a report from the Sindh government on the issue.

He said that the chief minister Sindh has already convened cabinet meeting to consider situation arising out of the latest spurt in violence in Karachi. The President is concerned that the target killings in Karachi may have been designed to detract from the operation against the militants in Swat and Malakand Region, the spokesperson said.

Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2009