Police fight gangsters in Karachi

Police and armed gangs have exchanged gunfire in a notorious slum district of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.

The gunbattle came after policemen went into the Lyari area. Two suspected gang members were killed, medics say.

Shooting went on for about two hours and the security forces called in reinforcements.

Attempts to arrest Karachi gangsters have had little success over the years. The gangs are protected by powerful politicians and police, observers say.

Grenades

Lyari is a huge, densely-populated neighbourhood of narrow lanes where crime levels are high.

Lyari police chief Imran Shaukat said gang members opened fire on police with automatic weapons and hand grenades.

Pakistan's new government has promised to improve law and order in Karachi, the country's biggest city and financial capital.

Mr Shaukat said he planned to "liquidate the Lyari gangs in one month's time". "I have been given this task, and promised all-out support [by those in power]," he said.

Rival gangs have been killing each other's members, or kidnapping and torturing them in recent years. Hundreds of people, including gangsters, residents and at least 50 policemen have been killed in the turf wars so far.