Foreign hands trying to destabilize Pakistan

PAKISTAN: Co-mmenting on the target killing in the southern city of Karachi in the country, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Tuesday that some foreign elements were conspiring to destabilize Pakistan.

Responding to a point of order in the Senate (Upper House of the country), he said some internal forces were also assisting these foreign elements in their designs.

The minister said action would be taken wherever government's writ was challenged and the trouble makers would be put down with an iron hand.

According to local media, the minister said that Shia and Sunni sects were not involved in the riots but there is a third element which is spending money in Pakistan to create a wave of sectarianism.

A fresh wave of target killings in Karachi, the financial capital of Pakistan adjacent to Arabian Sea, has claimed seven lives and injured three in the last 24 hours.

According to police sources, assistant jailor Ishaq Mio was shot by armed men late Monday and later succumbed to his injuries, Geo news reported Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD, Wednesday, Xinhua