'Civil war'-like situation brewing in Pakistan; indications of Pak Army-Sindh Police clash

A 'civil war'-like situation is said to be brewing in Pakistan amid reports of clashes between the Karachi Police and the Pakistan Army. News agency ANI quoted a Pakistan based media report saying that heavy fire was exchanged between the Sindh Police in Karachi and Pakistan Army, after the latter tried to take custody of a Superintendent of Police, Md. Aftab Anwar.

Pakistan mainstream media trying to hide the news

Casualties have been reported on both sides in the ensuing firing, Pakistan reports said. Several Twitter handles, including a few from India, have also reported about the clashes, alleging that Islamabad's mainstream media has tried its best to hide the news from the public. The development comes after the Opposition in Pakistan came together to protest against the 'puppet' Prime Minister Imran Khan and demanded his resignation.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Sindh Police chief on Tuesday deferred his leave and asked his officers to set aside their leave applications for ten days "in the larger national interest" after Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa ordered an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the arrest of former PM Nawaz Sharif's son-in-law, an issue that brought the paramilitary forces and police in direct conflict in the country's largest city.

In a series of tweets, Sindh Police said on Tuesday that the "unfortunate incident" that occurred on the night of 18/19 October caused "great heartache and resentment" within its ranks, referring to the circumstances surrounding the arrest of Sharif's son-in-law Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar.

Army chief Bajwa orders probe

The Sindh Police thanked Gen Bajwa for "realising the sense of hurt that prevailed within a uniformed force, and for promptly ordering an inquiry into the matter". The Sindh Police also thanked Pakistan People's Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah for showing solidarity with the police leadership. The PPP is the ruling party in Sindh province.

Opposition parties have alleged that the Sindh police chief was reportedly forcibly taken away by paramilitary Frontier Corps from his home in Karachi in the wee hours of Monday and pressurised to order for the arrest of Safdar.

On Tuesday, Sindh IGP, at least two additional inspectors general, seven deputy inspectors general and six senior superintendents of police decided to go on long leave in protest over the siege of Inspector General House that brought the law enforcement agency and security establishment in direct conflict, Dawn reported.

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Safdar was arrested on Monday from his hotel room in Karachi for raising slogans at the mausoleum of Pakistan's founder M A Jinnah just before the second rally of the Pakistan Democratic Movement's - an alliance of 11 Opposition parties. He was released on bail on the same day and flew back to Lahore, but the PPP which rules the province while distancing itself from the incident wondered who had ordered the arrest of Safdar.

Bilawal in a press conference said that all top officers of Sindh Police were wondering "who were the people who surrounded" the Sindh police chief's house on Monday and took him to an unspecified location before Safdar was arrested. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government appears to be panicked as it has been registering a number of cases against the PML-N workers since the PDM launched its movement to oust the Imran Khan government.

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(With agency inputs)