KARACHI  -  The Mutahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Monday blamed an armed group of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for killing three of its party workers during a firing incident on its party office in Karachi’s Machar Colony, PPP, how­ever, rejected the claim.

In a statement, the party said its election of­fice in Karachi’s Machar Colony — one of the largest slums of the port city — was attacked when workers and lead­ers were busy in elec­tion-related activities.

Police, on the other hand, claimed that ‘two groups’ had a clash in the area, adding that three people were killed, while the main suspect and his brother were arrested. The paramilitary forces also said that they were searching for others involved in the attack.

“According to the initial information, this was a land dispute,” the law enforcement agency added. The gen­eral elections are set to take place across the coun­try on February 8, 2024, with some political parties already expressing fears that the security situation is still not feasible to stage them. Elections — whether it be general or by — usually witness violence as par­ty workers clash when they confront their opponents, resulting in deaths and severe injuries.

MQM-P deputy convener Anis Kaimkhani alleged that an armed group of the PPP attacked his party’s nominated candidates for the national and provin­cial assemblies.

“MQM-P’s candidates Humayun Dilawar and Malik Fayyaz were busy in electioneering. The PPP [work­ers] fired on unarmed workers,” Kaimkhani said in a statement. The deputy convener added that the main suspect, Nisar Khan, is an officeholder of the PPP and is the coordinator of PPP leader Abdul Qadir Patel.

“The MQM-P workers have been injured and three killed. The injured are receiving treatment at the Ab­basi Shaheed Hospital.”

In response, PPP’s Patel demanded the MQM-P stop the politics of “blame game and dead bodies”.

“The MQM-P is trying to portray the event as a polit­ical one,” the PPP leader said in a statement, wonder­ing why the party was doing so as he termed the alle­gations “shameful”.