{{Short description|Militancy involving MQM}}{{Infobox military conflict | conflict = MQM militancy | place = Karachi and Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan | image = {{multiple image|border=infobox|perrow=2/2/2|total_width=300px | image1 = MQM_protests_2015.jpg | alt1 = MQM protests, 2015 | image2 = Karachi Rangers MQM.jpg | alt2 = Karachi Rangers with MQM, 2015 | image3 = Rangers_Pakistan_Sindh_2015.jpg | alt3 = Rangers Pakistan, Sindh, 2015 | image4 = MQM_protests_2016.jpg | alt4 = MQM protests, 2016 }} '''Clockwise from top left:''' MQM protesting against arrest of its workers. Rangers in Karachi while MQM headquarters, Nine Zero, is raided. Sindh Rangers under attack in Karachi, November 2015. MQM protesting for extra-judicial killings of their workers. | date = 1978–2025 ({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|year1=1978|year2=2025}}) * ''First Phase'' (high-scale):<br>1978–1992 ({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|year1=1978|year2=1992}}) * ''Operation Clean-up'' (Mid-Scale):<br>1992–1994 ({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|year1=1992|year2=1994}}) * ''Second Phase'' (Peak Mushrraf Era):<br>1994–2016 ({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|year1=1994|year2=2016}}) * ''Third Phase'' (low-scale):<br>2016–2025 ({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|year1=2016|year2=2025}}) | combatant1 = {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} MQM | combatant2 = {{tree list}} * {{flagicon|PAK}} Government of Pakistan ** {{flagicon|Sindh}} Sindh *** {{flagicon image|Karachi City Flag.png}} Karachi Government ** {{flagicon image|Former logo of Punjab Police Pakistan.svg|border=no}} Pakistan Police ** {{coat of arms|Pakistan|text=Civil Armed Forces}} ** 20px Pakistani Intelligence community *'''Supported by''': * {{army|PAK}} {{tree list/end}} | combatant3 = '''First Phase''':<hr>{{tree list}} * {{flagicon image|Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Flag.svg}} JIP ** {{flagicon image|PJT.SINa.png|size=23px|border=no border}} IJT <hr> * {{flagicon image|Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party Flag.svg}} STPP * {{flagicon image|Sindudesh flag.jpg}} JSSF <hr> * {{flagicon image|Flag of Afghanistan (2002-2004).svg}} Armed Afghan immigrants {{tree list/end}} | commander1 = {{plainlist}} * {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} Altaf Hussain * {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} Imran Farooq{{assassinated}} * {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} Azeem Ahmed Tariq{{assassinated}} * {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} Farooq Dada{{KIA}} * {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} Saeed Bharam (until 2016){{POW}} * {{flagicon image|Pak Sarzameen Party PSP Flag.png}}{{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} Anis Kaimkhani (until 2013) * {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} Hammad Siddiqui (until 2016) * {{flagicon image|Pak Sarzameen Party PSP Flag.png}}{{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} Syed Mustafa Kamal (until 2013) * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.svg}}{{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} Farooq Sattar (until 2016) <hr/> * {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-Haqiqi.png}} Afaq Ahmed {{endplainlist}} | commander2 = {{Tree list}} * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Prime Minister of Pakistan.svg}} Shehbaz Sharif * {{flagicon image|Flag of the President of Pakistan.svg}} Asif Ali Zardari * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} Asim Munir {{tree list/end}} {{Collapsible list| ''Former'':{{Tree list}} * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Prime Minister of Pakistan.svg}} Imran Khan * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Prime Minister of Pakistan.svg}} Nawaz Sharif * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Prime Minister of Pakistan.svg}} Benazir Bhutto{{assassinated}} * {{flagicon image|Flag of the President of Pakistan.svg}} Arif Alvi * {{flagicon image|Flag of the President of Pakistan.svg}} Farooq Leghari * {{flagicon image|Flag of the President of Pakistan.svg}} Ghulam Ishaq Khan * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} Qamar Javed Bajwa * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} Raheel Sharif * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} Asif Nawaz Janjua * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} Abdul Waheed Kakar * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg}} Mirza Aslam Beg {{Tree list/end}} }} | commander3 = {{plainlist}} * {{flagicon image|Awami National Party flag.svg}} Asfandyar Wali Khan * {{flagicon image|Flag of Pakistan People's Party.svg}} Asif Ali Zardari * {{flagicon image|Flag of Pakistan People's Party.svg}} Bilawal Bhutto * {{flagicon image|Flag of Pakistan People's Party.svg}} Yusuf Raza Gilani * {{flagicon image|Flag of Tehrik-i-Taliban.svg|25px}} Noor Wali Mehsud * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Sindhudesh Liberation Army.svg}} Shafi Muhammad Burfat * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Sindhudesh Liberation Army.svg}} Darya Khan {{endplainlist}} {{Collapsible list|Title= Former:|{{tree list}} * PPP: * {{flagicon image|Flag of Pakistan People's Party.svg}} Benazir Bhutto{{assassinated}} * Lyari gangsters: * Rehman Dakait{{KIA}} * Zafar Baloch{{assassinated}} * Uzair Baloch {{POW}} * TTP: * {{flagicon image|Flag of Tehrik-i-Taliban.svg|25px}} Hakimullah Mehsud{{KIA}} * {{flagicon image|Flag of Tehrik-i-Taliban.svg|25px}} Baitullah Mehsud{{KIA}} * SSP: * {{flagicon image|Flag of Sipah-e-Sahaba.jpg}} Azam Tariq{{KIA}} * Sindhi Nationalist: * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Sindhudesh Liberation Army.svg}} Ghulam Murtaza Syed{{Natural causes}} {{tree list/end}} }} | combatants_header = Opposing sides | notes = {{Align|center| * 1,770–1,990 killed (1995)<ref>{{cite web |title=PAKISTAN: Human rights crisis in Karachi |url=https://www.amnesty.org/es/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/asa330011996en.pdf|website=Amnesty International |page=1 |date=February 1996}}</ref> * 700–750 killed (1994)<ref>{{cite web |title=PAKISTAN: Human rights crisis in Karachi |url=https://www.amnesty.org/es/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/asa330011996en.pdf|website=Amnesty International |page=1 |date=February 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qTDfAQAAQBAJ&dq=mqm+massacre&pg=PA350 |title= Palan Wars| author= George Childs Kohn |date=2013 |publisher= Routledge|isbn= 9781135954949}}</ref><ref name="Najeeb A. Jan 2019 100">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r9WCDwAAQBAJ&dq=mqm+rocket+launchers&pg=PA100 |title= The Metacolonial State:Pakistan, Critical Ontology, and the Biopolitical Horizons of Political Islam |author=Najeeb A. Jan |date=2019 |page=100 |publisher= John Wiley & Sons |isbn= 9781118979396 }}</ref> * 2,000 killed (1995)<ref name="quod.lib.umich.edu">{{cite journal |url= https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jii/4750978.0004.108/--battlefields-of-karachi-ethnicity-violence-and-the-state?rgn=main;view=fulltext |title= The Battlefields of Karachi: Ethnicity, Violence and the State |author=Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali |journal= Journal of the International Institute |date=1996 |volume= 4 |issue= 1 |publisher=The Journal of the International Institute: Volume 4, Issue 1 }}</ref> * 748 killed (2010)<ref>{{cite news |title=Dozens killed in Karachi 'reign of terror' |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20110802-dozens-killed-gun-violence-karachi-awami-muttahida-qaum-urdu-pashtun-malik-pakistan |agency=France24 |publisher=Agence France-Presse |date=2011}}</ref> * 1,244–1,345 killed (2012)<ref>{{cite news |title=Understanding Karachi's killing fields |url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2012/09/24/understanding-karachi-s-killing-fields |agency=The New Humanitarian |publisher=IRIN News |date=24 September 2012}}</ref> * 2,909 killed (2014)<ref>{{cite news |title=78 children among 2,909 people killed in Karachi in 2014: HRCP |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/pakistan/78-children-among-2909-people-killed-karachi-2014-hrcp |agency=ReliefWeb |publisher=Dawn |date=7 January 2015}}</ref>}} | casualties3 = Unknown | casualties2 = 2,000 police Havaldars, officers, and informants killed (1991–2014)<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=AU5BuRE3TBaHWIaX&v=-HecvEmfWBk&feature=youtu.be |title=Karachi Operation 1990 Final Ep: Operation that caused havoc reaches its conclusion - BBC URDU |date=2023-07-17 |last=BBC News اردو |access-date=2025-02-13 |via=YouTube}}</ref> | casualties1 = Unknown | strength1 = 35,000 (2011) | strength2 = Unknown | strength3 = Unknown | units1 = {{tree list}} * {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} MQM-L ** {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} Good Friends<ref name="Dawn">{{cite news |title='Armed gangs outnumber police in Karachi' |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/630876/armed-gangs-outnumber-police-in-karachi |access-date=18 June 2025 |publisher=Dawn |date=22 May 2011}}</ref> ** {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} Sector Commanders (until 2015/16)<ref name="Dawn"/> ** {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} Nadeem Commando (1990-96)<ref>{{cite news |title=A turbulent political history |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/880425/ |publisher=Dawn |date=18 September 2010}}</ref> ** {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} Faheem Commando (1990-95)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hasan |first=Shazia |date=2016-05-12 |title=‘His friendship with Fahim Commando was the turning point’ |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1257766 |access-date=2025-09-01 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-01-26 |title=Karachi’s cops celebrated for faking it till they make it |url=http://www.thefridaytimes.com/2018/01/26/karachis-cops-celebrated-for-faking-it-till-they-make-it/ |access-date=2025-09-01 |website=The Friday Times |language=en}}</ref> ** {{flagicon image|Flag of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.svg|size=23px|border=no border}} APMSO ---- * {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-Haqiqi.png|size=23px|border=no border}} MQM-H {{tree list/end}} | units2 = {{tree list}} * {{flagicon|Sindh}} Sindh ** {{flagicon image|Karachi City Flag.png}} Karachi Government ** Sindh Police ** Sindh Rangers *** Anti-Terrorism Wing * {{flagicon image|Former logo of Punjab Police Pakistan.svg|border=no}} Pakistan Police ** CTD ** SSU * {{coat of arms|Pakistan|text=Civil Armed Forces}} ** Federal Constabulary ** Pakistan Rangers * 20px Pakistani Intelligence community ** NACTA ** IB ** FIA ** SB *'''Supported by''': * {{army|PAK}} {{tree list/end}} | units3 = {{tree list}} * {{flagicon image|Flag of Tehrik-i-Taliban.svg}} Karachi Waliyat (TTP) ** Naeem Bukhari Group (from 2024){{tree list/end}} {{flagicon image|Flag of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.svg}} LeJ—Naeem Bukhari Group (until 2024)<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of Sipah-e-Sahaba.jpg}} Sipah Sahaba Karachi branch (until 2018)<br>{{flagicon image|Awami National Party flag.svg}} ANP armed supporters and workers<br>{{flagicon image|TLP's party flag.jpg}} TLP supporters and protesters<br>{{flagicon image|Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Flag.svg}}{{flagicon image|PJT.SINa.png}} Armed IJT students<br>{{flagicon image| Flag of Sindhudesh.svg}} Sindhi nationalist militants<br>{{flagicon image|Islamic State flag.svg}} Jundallah (Karachi) terrorists<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of Afghanistan (2002-2004).svg}} Armed Afghan refugees | result = Sindh government victory * Success of Operation Clean-up, Operation Lyari, and Karachi Targeted-Action * Exile of Altaf Hussain * End of MQM-related violence * Closure and demolition of Nine Zero, MQM's headquarters * MQM strongholds in Karachi and Hyderabad within Sindh dismantled * Splitting of MQM-H, PSP and MQM-P from MQM-L | territory = Government control, law and order restored in Karachi | combatant1a = {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} MQM-L ---- {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-Haqiqi.png|size=23px|border=no border}} MQM-H | combatant3a = '''Second & Third Phase''':<hr>{{flagicon image|Awami National Party flag.svg}} ANP{{tree list}} * {{flagicon image|Flag of Pakistan People's Party.svg}} PPP ** PAC {{tree list/end}}{{flagicon image|flag of Jihad.svg|size=23px}} Sunni Tehreek<br>{{flagicon image|TLP's party flag.jpg}} TLP (from 2015)<br/>{{flagicon image|سنڌ يونائيٽڊ پارٽي جو جهنڊو.svg}} SUP<hr>Sindhi separatists:<br>{{flagicon image|Sindhuhesh Flag.svg}} JSQM<br/>{{flagicon image| Sindhuhesh Flag.svg}} JSMM<br/>{{flagicon image|Sindudesh flag.jpg}} JSSF<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of the Sindhudesh Liberation Army.svg}} SLA<br>{{flagicon image|Sindudesh flag.jpg}} SRA<br>{{flagicon image|Sindudesh flag.jpg}} SPA ---- 25px TTP {{Collapsible list|title=Formerly:|{{tree list}} * {{flagicon image|Islamic State flag.svg}} Jund-Allah (until 2014) * {{flagicon image|Flag of Sipah-e-Sahaba.jpg}} SSP (until 2018) * {{flagicon image|Flag of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.svg}} LeJ (until 2024) * {{flagicon image|Flag of Jihad.svg}} Jamaat-ul-Ahrar {{tree list/end}} }} | combatant2a = {{tree list}} * {{flagicon|PAK}} Government of Pakistan ** {{flagicon|Sindh}} Sindh *** {{flagicon image|Karachi City Flag.png}} Karachi Government ** {{flagicon image|Former logo of Punjab Police Pakistan.svg|border=no}} Pakistan Police ** {{coat of arms|Pakistan|text=Civil Armed Forces}} ** 20px Pakistani Intelligence community *'''Supported by''': * {{army|PAK}} {{tree list/end}} }} {{Muhajirs}} The '''MQM militancy''' referred to the militancy in Pakistan associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) political party, formerly known as the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, and even further back known as the All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organization (APMSO).
==History== ===Rise (1978–1992)=== {{Main|MQM insurrection (1978–1992)}} The ancestor of the MQM was the All Pakistan Muttahidda Students Organization (APMSO), which drew its support from Muhajir defectors from the heavily armed Islami Jamiat ut-Taleba (IJT). A large number of Jamaat-i-Islami members who were ethnic Muhajirs shifted their loyalties to the MQM overnight, resulting in the elimination of the former influence of the Jamaat. APMSO was radicalised when in 1985-86 the first (of the many) major clashes took place between Karachi's Muhajir and Pushtun communities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/743914/born-to-run-the-rise-and-leveling-of-the-apmso |title= Born to Run: The Rise and Leveling of APMSO |author=Nadeem Paracha |date=August 23, 2012 }}</ref> Faced by the superior firepower brought in by Afghan refugees, MQM dispatched a delegation of APMSO members to Hyderabad to meet a militant group from the Sindhi nationalist student organization, the JSSF. APMSO were given some small firearms by PSF in the early 1980s, but it was JSSF that sold the APMSO its first large cache of AK-47s that were then used to tame the heavily armed IJT in 1987 and 1988, eventually breaking IJT's hold at KU and in various other state-owned campuses in Karachi. Amidst ethnic violence, MQM's armed wings used street fighting and urban warfare as ethnic Muhajirs sought to use violence to control governing structures and appointments such as the Karachi Port Trust, Karachi Municipal Corporation and the Karachi Developmental Authority.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uzRZEAAAQBAJ&dq=muhajirs+sought+to+control&pg=PA146 |title=Urban Violence, Resilience and Security Governance Responses in the Global South |author=Michael R. Glass|author2= Phil Williams|author3= Taylor B. Seybolt|date=January 13, 2022 |page=146|publisher=Edward Elgar |isbn=9781800379732 }}</ref> During the MQM's stint in power in 1991, when it was part of the provincial government of Sindh, the party endorsed and participated in raids and the mass-arrests of its political rivals. Additionally, the MQM, supported by the government, was accused of operating as a mafia organization where its heavily armed militants used extortion and coercion to increase their influence.<ref name="Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali 1996">{{cite journal |url= https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jii/4750978.0004.108/--battlefields-of-karachi-ethnicity-violence-and-the-state?rgn=main;view=fulltext |title=The Battlefields of Karachi: Ethnicity, Violence and the State |author= Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali |date=1996 |issue=1 |journal=The Journal of the International Institute |volume=4 }}</ref>
=== 1992–1994 Operation Clean-up === {{Main|Operation Clean-up}}
The ancestor of the MQM was the All Pakistan Muttahidda Students Organization (APMSO), drew its support from Muhajir defectors from the heavily armed Islami Jamiat ut-Taleba (IJT). A large number of Jamaat-i-Islami members who were ethnic Muhajirs shifted their loyalties to the MQM overnight, resulting in the elimination of the former influence of the Jamaat. APMSO was radicalized when in 1985–1986 the first (of the many) major clashes took place between Karachi's Muhajir and Pashtun communities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/743914/born-to-run-the-rise-and-leveling-of-the-apmso |title= Born to Run: The Rise and Leveling of APMSO |author=Nadeem Paracha |date=August 23, 2012 }}</ref> Faced by the superior firepower brought in by Afghan refugees, MQM dispatched a delegation of APMSO members to Hyderabad to meet a militant group from the Sindhi nationalist student organization, the Jeay Sindh Students' Federation (JSSF). APMSO were given some small firearms by PSF in the early 1980s, but it was JSSF that sold the APMSO its first large cache of AK-47s that were then used to tame the heavily armed IJT in 1987 and 1988, eventually breaking IJT's hold at Karachi University and in various other state-owned campuses in Karachi. Amidst ethnic violence, MQM's armed wings used street fighting, gang warfare and urban warfare as ethnic Muhajirs sought to use violence to control governing structures and appointments such as the Karachi Port Trust, Karachi Municipal Corporation and the Karachi Developmental Authority.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uzRZEAAAQBAJ&dq=muhajirs+sought+to+control&pg=PA146 |title=Urban Violence, Resilience and Security Governance Responses in the Global South |author=Michael R. Glass|author2= Phil Williams|author3= Taylor B. Seybolt|date=January 13, 2022 |page=146|publisher=Edward Elgar |isbn=9781800379732 }}</ref> During the MQM's stint in power in 1991, when it was part of the Provincial Government of Sindh, the party endorsed and participated, in raids, mass-arrests, and assassinations of its political rivals/opponents. Additionally, MQM was accused of operating as a mafia organization where its heavily armed militants used extortion and coercion to increase their influence.<ref name="Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali 1996"/>
=== 1994–2016 Violence === {{Main|MQM violence (1994–2016)}}
During the months of May and June in 1994, the MQM carried out a series of attacks following the end of Operation clean-up. These included car bombings, riots, and secret killings, leading to the deaths of around 750 people, including non-native Urdu speakers and others who were considered opponents of MQM.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qTDfAQAAQBAJ&dq=mqm+massacre&pg=PA350 |title= Palan Wars| author= George Childs Kohn |date=2013 |publisher= Routledge|isbn= 9781135954949}}</ref><ref name="Najeeb A. Jan 2019 100">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r9WCDwAAQBAJ&dq=mqm+rocket+launchers&pg=PA100 |title= The Metacolonial State:Pakistan, Critical Ontology, and the Biopolitical Horizons of Political Islam |author=Najeeb A. Jan |date=2019 |page=100 |publisher= John Wiley & Sons |isbn= 9781118979396 }}</ref> The conflict was its most bloodiest in May 1995, when MQM militants resurfaced to the ground, and attacked government offices, police stations and ambushed police patrols using assault rifles, pistols, small arms, and even rocket launchers. Although sporadic ethnic violence and sectarian violence had been a permanent feature of the Karachi landscape since the 1980s, the level of organization and intensity of the violence in 1995 was unprecedented. About 300 people were killed in the month of June, the death toll reached 600 deaths in two months and 2,000 deaths in a year attributed to ethnic violence, leading analysts to compare the situation to the Kashmir insurgency which were also taking place in the 1990s.<ref name="quod.lib.umich.edu">{{cite journal |url= https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jii/4750978.0004.108/--battlefields-of-karachi-ethnicity-violence-and-the-state?rgn=main;view=fulltext |title= The Battlefields of Karachi: Ethnicity, Violence and the State |author=Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali |journal= Journal of the International Institute |date=1996 |volume= 4 |issue= 1 |publisher=The Journal of the International Institute: Volume 4, Issue 1 }}</ref><ref name="Najeeb A. Jan 2019 100"/> On June 25, 1995, nearly 80 policemen were killed in a five-week long assault by the MQM militants, and a total of 221 security forces were killed over the year, while over the course of 70 police operations more than 121 terrorists were jilled who were believed to be affiliated with MQM. By 1996 it was described as a virtual civil war between the Pakistani Law Enforcement and Pakistani Paramilitary Forces on one side and MQM-affiliated militants on the other.<ref name="quod.lib.umich.edu"/><ref>{{cite web |url= https://apnews.com/article/5b12b2b12b8400ea4759c1703e41e3c2 |title=Nearly 80 Police Killed in 5-Week-Old Assault By Militants |author= Zahid Hussain |website=Associated Press |date=June 25, 1995 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/469f38c7c.html |title= Chronology for Mohajirs in Pakistan |publisher=Minorities at Risk Project |date=2004 |quote=Wrap-up: Political violence in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi claimed 2,052 lives in 1995, including 121 terrorists and 221 members of the security forces, according to police records. The MQM also called a total of 26 protest strikes in 1995, at an estimated cost to the national economy of the equivalent of 38 million dollars per day. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur 12/31/95) }}</ref> In 2002, the MQM assumed office in the Sindh Provincial Government and were elected to the Karachi City Government from 2006 to 2008, while newspapers in Karachi were accusing the MQM of eliminating opponents with impunity. This also involved violent, unchecked land expansion and real estate 'entrepreneurs' who were speculated to be illegally or violently occupying land driven by powerful political patrons in the MQM.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=C28sDwAAQBAJ&dq=1980s+mqm+pashtuns&pg=PT15 |title= Cityscapes of Violence in Karachi: Publics and Counterpublics |date=2017 |author=Nichola Khan |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn= 978-0-19-086978-6 }}</ref> Karachi experienced an exceptionally high level of violence in 2011 with some 800 people killed, where the MQM was widely viewed as the perpetrator of targeted killings, out of a total 1800 killings in Karachi.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ab5vDwAAQBAJ&dq=ANP+killings+karachi&pg=PA367 |page=367 |title=World Report 2012: Events of 2011 |date=14 February 2012 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn=9781609803896 }}</ref><ref name="MQM Blame">{{Cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1162049|title=Rangers' report blames MQM for Baldia factory fire|last=Siddiqui|first=Tahir|date=2015-02-07|work=dawn.com|access-date=2018-09-22|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Conflict Dynamics in Karach |author=Huma Yusuf |publisher=United Institute of Peace }}</ref>
==Militant recruits== MQM's armed wing was composed of thousands of criminals, hitmen and university student-origin activists belonging to APMSO.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I2avL3aZzSEC&dq=mqm+militant+wing&pg=PA75 |title= Pakistan:Nationalism Without a Nation | page=75 |date=2002 |author= Christophe Jaffrelot |publisher= Zed Books |isbn= 9781842771174 }}</ref> MQM's militant wing had as many as 35,000 militants in Karachi and Hyderabad.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Admin |date=2012-05-05 |title=35,000 armed militants in MQM: American Council General |url=https://karachireal.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/35000-armed-militants-in-mqm-american-council-general/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=Karachi Real |language=en}}</ref> According to ethnographic research conducted by Khan and Gayer, the militant members of the MQM were made up of both professional militants and part-time militants, the latter who carried out violent activities only occasionally. Some of the professional militants were trained in Afghanistan, and the MQM had a separate headquarters known as 'peeli kothi' located in Liaquatabad/Lalukhet, where they planned and organized violent activities. Initially, this location was used as a torture chamber for the party's political opponents, and later, it housed party cadres recruited for violent activities. The Sindh Rangers alleged that the MQM's military wing had an "elite corps" engaged in torture and murder without the approval or knowledge of the party's leadership. The recruitment process included inspiration from Altaf Hussain and the promise of "career, income, power, respect, leadership, and brotherly love."<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ameZEAAAQBAJ&dq=mqm+bhatta&pg=PA84 |page=106 |author= Niloufer A. Siddiqui |title=Under the Gun |date=2022 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781009242493 }}</ref>
=== Criticism === In the mid-1990s, the ''U.S State Department'', ''Amnesty International'', ''Human Rights Watch'', and others accused MQM-London and a rival faction, MQM-Haqiqi, of summary killings, torture, and other abuses. The MQM-A (Altaf) routinely denied any involvement in the violence.<ref name="UNHCR">{{cite web |date=2004-02-09 |title=UNHCR | Refworld | Pakistan: Information on Mohajir/Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Altaf (MQM-A) |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/414fe5aa4.html |access-date=2009-08-26 |publisher=United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services}}</ref>
The party's use of extra-legal activities in conflicts with political opponents have led it to be accused of terrorism.<ref name="Ghosh">{{Citation |last=Ghosh |first=Teesta |title=Ethnic Conflict and Secessionism in South and Southeast Asia: Causes, Dynamics, Solutions |page=111 |year=2003 |chapter=Ethnic Conflict in Sindh and its Impact on Pakistan |publisher=Sage}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Khan |first=Adeel |title=Politics of Identity: Ethnic Nationalism and the State in Pakistan |page=163 |year=2005 |publisher=Sage}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Ahmed |first=Ishtiaq |title=The politics of ethnicity in Sindh: Changing perceptions of group identity |work=Asian Societies in Comparative Perspective |volume=3 |page=809 |year=1991 |publisher=Nordic Institute of Asian Studies}}</ref> The party's strongly hierarchical order and personalist leadership style led to some critics labelling the MQM as fascist.<ref name="Ghosh" /><ref>{{Citation |last=Das |first=Suranjan |title=Kashmir and Sindh: Nation-Building, Ethnicity and Regional Politics in South Asia |page=131 |year=2001 |publisher=Anthem Press}}</ref> Additionally, MQM was accused of operating as a mafia organization where its heavily armed militants used extortion and coercion to increase their influence.<ref name="Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali 19962">{{cite journal |author=Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali |date=1996 |title=The Battlefields of Karachi: Ethnicity, Violence and the State |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jii/4750978.0004.108/--battlefields-of-karachi-ethnicity-violence-and-the-state?rgn=main;view=fulltext |journal=The Journal of the International Institute |volume=4 |issue=1}}</ref>
The ''Associated Press'' referred to MQM as an ethnic militant group.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> The government blamed MQM for much of the killings in Karachi in the 1990s.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
==Crackdowns on MQM== === Pucca Qila Operation (1990) === {{Main|Pucca Qila Massacre}}
The Pakka Qila Operation was launched by Sindh Police to target MQM workers in Pakka Qilla Hyderabad. Anywhere from 70–250 besieged people were killed during the operation, which carried on for 275 hours before Pakistan army troops were ordered by the President to move in in order to stop the violence.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2007-12-21 |title=Hyderabad: MQM's Pucca Qila |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/281241 |access-date=2017-01-07 |newspaper=DAWN.COM}}</ref>
=== 1992–94 === {{Main|Operation Clean-up}}
From 1992 to 1994, the MQM was the target of Operation Clean-up. The period is regarded as the bloodiest period in Karachi's history, with thousands of MQM militants, workers, and supporters killed or gone missing.<ref>{{Cite web |publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |title=Pakistan: Treatment of Mohajirs (Urdu-speaking Muslims who fled to Pakistan from India following the 1947 partition of the sub-continent) by the general population, particularly in Lahore and Islamabad; whether there is an internal flight alternative for Mohajirs in Pakistan, aside from Karachi (1998-August 2003) |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/403dd20c0.html |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=Refworld |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |title=THE MOHAJIR QAUMI MOVEMENT (MQM) IN KARACHI JANUARY 1995-APRIL 1996 |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a85d4.html |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=Refworld |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=question-and-answer-seriessrie-questions-et-rponses-pakistan-the-mohajir-qaumi-movement-mqm-in-karachi-jan-1995apr-1996-nov-1996-53-pp |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2210-7975_hrd-4371-0331 |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=Human Rights Documents online}}</ref> Although more 30 years have passed since the alleged arrest or disappearance of MQM workers, families of the missing people are still hopeful after registering the cases in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news |date=22 Feb 2010 |title=KARACHI: Families of 'missing' MQM workers still hopeful |work=Dawn |url=http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/karachi-families-of-missing-mqm-workers-still-hopeful-220 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423193101/http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/karachi-families-of-missing-mqm-workers-still-hopeful-220 |archive-date=23 April 2010}}</ref> The operation left thousands of civilians dead.<ref name="farhat">{{cite journal |last=Haq |first=Farhat |date=1999-11-01 |title=Rise of the MQM in Pakistan: Politics of Ethnic Mobilization |journal=Asian Survey |publisher=University of California Press |volume=35 |issue=11 |pages=990–1004 |doi=10.2307/2645723 |jstor=2645723}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ahmar |first=Moonis |title=Asian Survey |date=October 1996 |publisher=University of California Press |volume=36 |pages=1031–1048 |chapter=Ethnicity and State Power in Pakistan: The Karachi Crisis |doi=10.2307/2645632 |jstor=2645632 |issue=10}}</ref> During Operation Blue Fox there was growing concern that the Sindh rangers and Sindh police were involved in human rights abuses, including beatings, extortion, disappearances and torture of suspected militants in encounters.<ref name=":0" /> As the police and rangers carried out raids, mass round-ups and siege-and-search operations in pursuit of MQM (Altaf) leaders and militants for over 30 months, thousands of ordinary MQM workers and supporters were subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention, beatings, torture, extortion, and other ill-treatment.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Karachi hit |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12066501.karachi-hit/ |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=HeraldScotland |language=en}}</ref>
=== 1994–96 Operation === During tenure of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, interior minister Naseerullah Babar conducted second operation against MQM between 1994 and 1996.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Major's kidnapping, Jinnahpur, 1992, 1994 anti-MQM operations |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/28991-majors-kidnapping-jinnahpur-1992-1994-anti-mqm-operations |access-date=2017-01-01 |website=www.thenews.com.pk}}</ref> On 5 September 1995, 8 MQM supporters were killed and 11 were injured when security forces attacked what the MQM billed as a peaceful protest against abuses by security forces against MQM female workers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eight killed |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12089072.eight-killed/ |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=HeraldScotland |language=en}}</ref> Due to serious doubts over credibility of operation due to encounters, extrajudicial executions and rise of killings in Karachi,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bahadur |first=Kalim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ND9yNyTpntYC&q=naseerullah+babar+fake+encounter&pg=PA305 |title=Democracy in Pakistan: Crises and Conflicts |date=1998-01-01 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |isbn=9788124100837 |language=en}}</ref> Benazir Bhutto's government was dismissed by the then President of Pakistan, Farooq Ahmed Laghari.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2003-12-28 |title=Benazir violated rules: Leghari |newspaper=DAWN.COM |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/131392 |access-date=2017-01-07}}</ref>
==== Killing of Farooq Dada ==== On 2 August 1995, Farooq Patni, alias Farooq Dada, and three other MQM militants, Javed Michael, Ghaffar Mada and Hanif Turk, were shot dead by police in an armed encounter near the airport when they failed to stop and opened fire on the police.<ref name="AMN">{{cite web |date=1 February 1996 |title=Pakistan: Human rights crisis in Karachi |url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA330011996?open&of=ENG-PAK |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061104073429/http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA330011996?open&of=ENG-PAK |archive-date=4 November 2006 |access-date=26 July 2006 |publisher=Amnesty International}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvRiE-cRs5M |title=PAKISTAN: KARACHI: MQM MEMBER SHOT DEAD BY POLICE |date=2015-07-21 |last=AP Archive |access-date=2025-10-03 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=PAKISTAN: KARACHI: MQM MEMBER SHOT DEAD BY POLICE |url=https://newsroom.ap.org/editorial-photos-videos/detail?itemid=49b59f83bb057c3470257a96cbc8e4f2&mediatype=video&source=youtube |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=newsroom.ap.org}}</ref>
Farooq Dada was the leader of MQM's Nadeem Commando and was considered to be Pakistan's most wanted man and had a 1.5 million rupee (500k US dollar) price on his head and was wanted for over 140 cases and the murder of over two dozen police officers. Dada was allegedly involved in many killings, extortions and kidnappings.<ref name=":2" />
Armed police officers were waiting for him near the airport after being told that he was moving weapons from the Karachi's Malir district. The Sindh Police claimed that Farooq Dada and three others were on their way to Jinnah International Airport to blow up a PIA plane when police, moved in after being tipped off on their whereabouts. Dada and his three accomplices opened fire on the police as they attempted to do stop and pin down his car. A gun battled ensued in which 10 heavily armed officers fired back back. When officers examined the wreckage of his car they found a weapons cache which included machine guns, AKMs, 4 thousand rounds of ammunition and even an RPG-7.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
Despite this, their family members claimed that the men had earlier been arrested from their homes. Another MQM worker, Mohammad Altaf, arrested later on the same day was reportedly identified by Farooq Dada and his three companions when they were brought to Altaf's house by police to help identify him. Witnesses were reported to have seen the four MQM workers at the time of Altaf's arrest; they were, at that time, reportedly held in shackles.<ref name="AMN" />
=== 1998 Operation === In the aftermath of Hakeem Saeed's assassination, federal rule was imposed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Sindh and an operation was initiated against MQM.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Refugees |first=United Nations High Commissioner for |title=Refworld {{!}} Pakistan: An army operation conducted in August 1998 in Karachi against Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activists; role of Mujahid Battalion in assisting the army in this operation; MQM members killed |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4be8c1c.html |access-date=2020-12-14 |website=Refworld |language=en}}{{Dead Link|date=October 2025}}</ref>
=== 2015–16 Nine Zero Raids === Due to MQM involvement behind the deadly fire that claimed the lives of at least 258 factory workers<ref name=":12">{{Cite news |last=Siddiqui |first=Tahir |date=2015-02-07 |title=Rangers' report blames MQM for Baldia factory fire |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1162049 |access-date=2018-09-22 |work=DAWN.COM |language=en-US}}</ref> in order to take extorted money from owners,<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Husain |first=Irfan |date=2018-03-10 |title=MQM: decline & fall |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1394315 |access-date=2021-03-14 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2011-09-06 |title=MQM pioneered 'bhatta' culture in Karachi: Asma |url=https://nation.com.pk/06-Sep-2011/MQM-pioneered-bhatta-culture-in-Karachi-Asma |access-date=2021-03-14 |website=The Nation |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Jamal |first=Umair |title=Why the Pakistani State Can't Seem to Figure Out the MQM in Karachi |url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/08/why-the-pakistani-state-cant-seem-to-figure-out-the-mqm-in-karachi/ |access-date=2021-03-14 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=2012 Karachi factory fire an act of terrorism, with MQM involvement, report says |url=https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/2012-karachi-factory-fire-an-act-of-terrorism-with-mqm-involvement-report-says-1.72441816 |access-date=2021-03-14 |website=gulfnews.com |language=en}}</ref> in 2015 MQM's Headquarter Nine Zero was raided twice by the paramilitary Sindh Rangers and many top officials of MQM were taken into custody. On 11 March 2015, Pakistan Rangers carried out a raid at Nine Zero, the headquarters of MQM in Karachi as well as the party’s public secretariat Khursheed Begum Memorial Hall and arrested over 100 MQM activists.<ref name="TNI2">{{cite news |author=Zia Ur Rehman |date=11 March 2020 |title=From Nine Zero to ground zero: a groundbreaking raid that ended MQM's reign of fear |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/627109-from-nine-zero-to-ground-zero-a-groundbreaking-raid-that-ended-mqm-s-reign-of-fear |access-date=2 August 2021 |newspaper=The News International (newspaper) |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Tribune">{{cite news |author=Faraz Khan |date=2015 |title=Karachi Operation - Target Acquired |url=http://labs.tribune.com.pk/ground-nine-zero/chap-1.html |access-date=27 July 2021 |newspaper=The Express Tribune (Tribune Labs)}}</ref><ref name="geo">{{Cite web |title=27 MQM workers arrested in Nine Zero raid presented in ATC |url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/1557-27-mqm-workers-arrested-in-nine-zero-raid-presented-in-atc |access-date=2 August 2021 |website=Geo TV News website |language=en-US}}</ref> At least 27 suspects were presented before an anti-terrorism court. Rangers claimed that they apprehended nearly half a dozen target killers – including Faisal Mehmood, aka 'Faisal Mota', who was sentenced to death in the murder case of Geo News journalist Wali Khan Babar in 2011 and a huge quantity of arms and ammunition, walkie-talkies, binoculars and other military gear used by NATO forces in Afghanistan were also seized during the raid.<ref name="Tribune" /><ref name="geo" /> In 2015, a senior policeman, had placed the figure of deaths of MQM workers at 1,000, saying a majority of the deaths were extrajudicial killings.<ref name="Extrajudicial Killings">{{Cite web |agency=Reuters |date=2015-08-10 |title=Extrajudicial killings rise in police crackdown in Karachi |url=https://arynews.tv/extrajudicial-killings-rise-in-police-crackdown-in-karachi/ |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=ARY NEWS |language=en-US}}</ref> Three other serving officials confirmed the assessment.<ref name="Extrajudicial Killings" /> In 2015, the HRCP expressed concern over the rise in extrajudicial killings and lack of transparency about the number of MQM activists picked up or later let off.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baloch |first=Saher |date=2015-12-28 |title=HRCP concerned over extrajudicial killings in Karachi |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1229062 |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}</ref>
In 2016, the Sindh Rangers conducted a second raid on Nine Zero are a speech by Altaf Hussain where he said: 'Pakistan Murdabad' (Death to Pakistan) and later ordered an attack on an ARY channel office which faced much criticism from the media. In this speech, he also incited the party workers to attack Pakistani media houses, which resulted in street rioting and one death in Karachi. On the orders of Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif, the paramilitary Sindh Rangers immediately raided sealed multiple MQM offices including Nine Zero. On August 22, 2016, the Headquarters was sealed and hundreds of MQM offices were bulldozed. This 2016 Rangers raid turned out to be a turning point for MQM party or some people call it a beginning of the MQM's end as a political party.<ref name="TNI">{{cite news |author=Zia Ur Rehman |date=11 March 2020 |title=From Nine Zero to ground zero: a groundbreaking raid that ended MQM's reign of fear |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/627109-from-nine-zero-to-ground-zero-a-groundbreaking-raid-that-ended-mqm-s-reign-of-fear |access-date=2 August 2021 |newspaper=The News International (newspaper) |language=en}}</ref> During Nine Zero raid, MQM worker Waqas Shah was shot by a Ranger's 9mm pistol fire from point blank range. The video evidence released on electronic media confirmed the incident.<ref>{{Citation |last=S.I.M |title=Who Killed MQM Worker Waqas Shah |date=2015-03-11 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCtWaJDI11Y |access-date=2017-01-01}}</ref> Farooq Sattar's coordination officer Syed Aftab Ahmed was killed while in the custody of paramilitary forces. Initially the force denied torture and stated that he died of heart attack but it had to accept after social media publicized videos of torture marks on Aftab's body and autopsy report conforming death due to torture.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-05-05 |title=40pc of Aftab Ahmed's body covered in bruises, reveals postmortem |newspaper=DAWN.COM |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1256464 |access-date=2017-01-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Autopsy report confirms Aftab tortured |newspaper=Samaa TV |url=https://www.samaa.tv/pakistan/2016/05/autopsy-report-confirms-aftab-tortured/ |access-date=2017-01-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |title=Pakistan: Investigation crucial after Karachi political activist tortured and killed in custody |newspaper=Refworld |url=http://www.refworld.org/country,,AMNESTY,,PAK,,573028d4a,0.html |access-date=2017-01-01}}</ref> During the raid on Nine Zero, Syed Waqas Ali Shah was shot by rangers. “Don’t misbehave with the women” were said to be the 25-year-old Shah's last words to Rangers personnel, who according to eye-witnesses accounts were pushing aside women who were protesting outside the MQM headquarters (Nine Zero) against the operation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-03-11 |title=Profile: Waqas Ali Shah left home for Nine Zero, never to return |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/851454/profile-waqas-ali-shah-left-home-for-nine-zero-never-to-return |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=The Express Tribune |language=en}}</ref> As a result of operation, MQM claimed 67 of its workers had been killed by the Sindh Rangers while 150 went missing and more than 5,000 were placed behind bars.<ref name=":7">Multiple sources:
* {{Cite web |title=Pakistan: Detained 70-year old professor’s health at risk: Dr Zafar Arif |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa33/5413/2016/en/ |access-date=2017-01-01 |website=www.amnesty.org }} * {{Cite web |title=Pakistan: Five political activists at risk of torture |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa33/4506/2016/en/ |access-date=2017-01-01 |website=www.amnesty.org }} * {{Cite news |date=2016-08-31 |title=US concerned about allegations of rights violations in Pakistan |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/us-concerned-about-allegations-of-rights-violations-in-pakistan-3005728/ |access-date=2017-01-01 |newspaper=The Indian Express }} * {{Cite web |title=Human Rights group alarmed at extra-judicial killings of MQM workers by paramilitary force in Pakistan |url=http://www.opednews.com/articles/2/Human-Rights-group-alarmed-by-Abdus-Sattar-Ghaza-Army_Extra-judicial-Killings_Human-Rights-Violations_Human-Rights-Watch-161029-92.html |access-date=2017-01-01 |website=OpEdNews |language=en-US }} * {{Cite web |date=2014-04-30 |title=BBC Urdu Sairbeen (Aaj News) Report on extra judicial killing & enforced disappearance of MQM workers — Video Dailymotion |url=http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1s4gnv_bbc-urdu-sairbeen-aaj-news-report-on-extra-judicial-killing-enforced-disappearance-of-mqm-workers_news |access-date=2017-01-01 |website=Dailymotion }} * {{Cite web |title=Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015 |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2015&dlid=252973#wrapper |access-date=2017-01-01 |website=www.state.gov }} * {{Cite news |title=UN notified Pakistani state 3 times for 144 missing MQM workers: UN Human Rights letter |url=http://www.siasat.pk/forum/showthread.php?437438-UN-notified-Pakistani-state-3-times-for-144-missing-MQM-workers-UN-Human-Rights-letter |access-date=2017-01-01 |newspaper=Siasat.pk Forums }}{{Dead link|date=May 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} * {{Cite web |last=Wolf |first=Lucien |date=Sep 2015 |title=Pakistan Passes illegal bill |url=http://www.kcwtoday.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/KCW-sept-final-DPS-lo-res.pdf |access-date=17 Sep 2015 |website=kcwtoday.co.uk }}{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} * {{Cite news |title=UN has acknowledged the occurrence of extra judicial target killing, enforced disappearance of MQM by Pakistani govt and pakistani army, ISI |url=http://www.siasat.pk/forum/showthread.php?375401-UN-has-acknowledged-the-occurance-of-extra-judicial-target-killing-enforced-disappearance-of-MQM-by-Pakistani-govt-and-pakistani-army-ISI |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102081312/http://www.siasat.pk/forum/showthread.php?375401-UN-has-acknowledged-the-occurance-of-extra-judicial-target-killing-enforced-disappearance-of-MQM-by-Pakistani-govt-and-pakistani-army-ISI |archive-date=2017-01-02 |access-date=2017-01-01 |newspaper=Siasat.pk Forums }} * {{Cite news |date=2016-08-10 |title=Extrajudicial killings rise in Pakistan police crackdown in Karachi |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-police-killings-insight-idUSKCN0QE0WL20150810 |access-date=2017-01-01 |newspaper=Reuters }}</ref>
==== Aftermath ==== The 2016 Nine Zero raid was referred to as "the end of the story for the party founder, Altaf Hussain".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Resurrection of MQM-Pakistan |url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/529037-resurrection-of-mqm-pakistan |access-date=2024-05-26 |website=www.geo.tv |language=en-US}}</ref> A section of political analysts believed that the situation had already started worsening for MQM when London's Metropolitan Police arrested and detained Altaf Hussain, the party founder, in 2014 for an investigation involving money laundering, which dispelled the impression that he was untouchable and safe in Britain, despite the charges ultimately being dropped due to a lack of evidence.<ref name="TNI3">{{cite news |author=Zia Ur Rehman |date=11 March 2020 |title=From Nine Zero to ground zero: a groundbreaking raid that ended MQM's reign of fear |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/627109-from-nine-zero-to-ground-zero-a-groundbreaking-raid-that-ended-mqm-s-reign-of-fear |access-date=2 August 2021 |newspaper=The News International (newspaper) |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=23 August 2016 |title=Nisar seeks UK action against Altaf |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1168911/nisar-seeks-uk-action-altaf/ |access-date=2 August 2021 |newspaper=The Express Tribune (newspaper)}}</ref>
== End of militancy ==
=== Altaf Hussain's August 2025 announcement === On 12 August 2025, Altaf Hussain, founder of Muttahida Qaumi Movement–London, addressed a global gathering of MQM workers via video link and declared that he was "relieving all party workers of their oath of allegiance to him". He stated:<blockquote>''" For the past 47 years, I have been struggling for the rights of Pakistan’s deprived and oppressed people, especially the Muhajir community. I have worked day and night without a single day off. In this struggle, we have endured the martyrdom of thousands of colleagues, enforced disappearances, displacement, destruction of homes, forced occupation of properties, and countless other sacrifices. My own family has not been spared either. My 28-year-old nephew, Arif Hussain, was hacked to death with an axe. My 70-year-old brother-in-law, Aslam Ibrahmani, was arrested from Karachi, brutally tortured for six months in Adiala jail, and dumped outside in a near-dead state, before he succumbed to his injuries. None of my siblings escaped the ordeal of repeated raids on their homes, forcing them into exile, Despite the martyrdom of thousands of comrades, the anguish of thousands of disappeared colleagues, and the imprisonment of many — including those still in jail — I have concluded that I have failed not only to change Pakistan’s rotten and outdated system, but also to secure the rights of my Muhajir nation. Therefore, from August 10, 2025, I relieve all comrades, including the former coordination committee, convener, deputy convener, and all workers, from the oath of loyalty they took to the movement and to me. They are now free to join any political party they wish, wherever they wish, and wherever they wish. As long as I live, I will continue the movement to achieve rights through social media. Success or failure is in the hands of God. "''</blockquote>Hussain recounted past sacrifices, including the enforced disappearance and killing of his brother and nephew.<ref>{{cite web |date=12 August 2025 |title=Altaf Hussain tells MQM workers they are free to join any party |url=https://humenglish.com/latest/altaf-hussain-tells-mqm-workers-they-are-free-to-join-any-party |access-date=12 August 2025 |website=Hum News English}}</ref>
=== Interpretation as party dissolution === Commentators and media outlets widely interpreted the statement as effectively signalling the dissolution of MQM–London as a political organization, owing to the removal of its foundational loyalty structure.<ref>{{cite web |date=12 August 2025 |title=Altaf Hussain tells MQM workers they are free to join any party |url=https://humenglish.com/latest/altaf-hussain-tells-mqm-workers-they-are-free-to-join-any-party |access-date=12 August 2025 |website=Hum News English}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=12 August 2025 |title=Altaf Hussain tells MQM workers they are free to join any party |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1929736 |access-date=12 August 2025 |website=Dawn}}</ref>
==See also== *MQM violence (1994–2016) *Operation Clean-up *Operation Lyari *Insurgency in Sindh *Insurgency in Balochistan *Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa *Terrorism in Pakistan *Sectarian violence in Pakistan *Separatist movements of Pakistan
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Rebel groups in Pakistan Category:Terrorism in Pakistan