In Pakistan, the death toll in violence in Karachi has risen to 38 in two days as 22 more people were killed in firing and violent incidents since midnight. Among the victims was a former member of the Pakistan national assembly Waja Karim Dad, who was shot dead at a restaurant in Lyaria. The sixty-three-year-old Waja was at the restaurant along with friends for Iftar when unknown gunmen opened fire on him killing four and injuring three others. In another incident, four people were killed, including a young girl, and seven others were injured in a series of five hand-grenade attacks in the Bhempora area of the city. In a shooting spree in the Methadar area, two persons were killed and four others injured. Reports said, a motorcycle and a rickshaw were also set on fire on Nepiar road. After the series of violence, shops and markets were shut in the Lyari and Old city area. Police say much of the violence has been focused in Karachi's southern Lyari neighborhood, a stronghold of the ruling Pakistan People's Party, where criminal gangs are known to operate. Rights groups say more than 800 people have been killed in Karachi so far this year, with more than 200 dead last month alone. Authorities say the killings are part of clashes between the main political groups, which represent two different ethnic communities. The political parties are also said to have links to armed criminal gangs.