At least 17 people killed in Pakistan's Karachi

Pre-election violence killed at least 17 people in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi in several attacks, the provincial health minister said on Sunday.

The by-election for a seat in the provincial assembly will be held on Sunday after a lawmaker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was killed by gunmen in August, triggering violence which killed 100 people in a week.

MQM is the most influential party in Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city and commercial hub.

Karachi has a long history of ethnic, religious and sectarian violence. It was a main target of al Qaeda-linked militants after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, when Pakistan joined the U.S.-led campaign against militancy, and foreigners were attacked in the city several times.

Aside from the challenge of trying to contain violence in Karachi, Pakistan's government faces a stubborn Taliban insurgency and the task of reconstructing areas devastated by summer floods which inflicted $9.7 billion in damage and are likely to strain the fragile economy for several years.

Mohammad Saghir, Sindh province's health minister, told Reuters that Saturday night's attacks were targeted killings.

He said groups of gunmen in several parts of Karachi attacked people belonging to ethnic and political groups to "ruin the peace of this city". About 40 people were wounded, he said.

Several hundred people have been killed in targeted attacks since the start of this year.

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