KARACHI. Nov 10: Hidden in the darkness, heavily armed troops wade through a maze of narrow lane ways until they reach a shabby building — the suspected hideout of ethnic terrorists, reports AP.

A commander barks orders Paramilitary soldiers and police burst through the doors. Gunfire breaks out. and screams are heard from the building.

The mission is successful. The troops emerge with several suspected militants of the Mut-teheda Qami Movement, a group that claims to represent Indian Muslims.

This scene replays itself several times a week in this troubled city.

The migrants, who settled in Pakistan in 1947 at the end of British rule on the Asian subcontinent, say successive governments have discriminated against them, denying them equal access to jobs, education andgovernment positions.

They want to be recognised as a fifth ethnic group like Punjabis. Pathans. Baluch and Sindhis. The government refuses.

Adding to the tensions, the movement, known as the MQM, split several years ago. The splinter Haaiqi group routinely clashes with the mainstream faction in a violent battle for -control of the streets of this

southern port city.

The internal fighting, along with attacks on police, have taken at least 1.000 lives this year, according to police statistics. It has also crushed the economy in Karachi, the country's financial capital and largest city, with 14 million people.

• The unrest has turned entire neighbourhoods, mostly in eastern and central Karachi, into battlefields. Hoping to restore order. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif imposed federal rule in Karachi In early November.

"It might take three months or it might take six months ... the terrorism here is deep rooted." he said at the time.

Paramilitary officers park armoured personnel carriers on the fringes of the volatile neighbourhoods. Policemen in bulletproof jackets patrol the streets on foot and in armour-plated cars.

But the violence has only worsened, and the militants have begun to target the police and the paramilitaries. Authorities say they are afraid.

Their fears may be rooted in an earlier crackdown launched by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1995.

Human rights groups accused Benazir'ls government of allowing summary executions

of suspected terrorists and covering up the killings. When the president, using his constitutional authority, dismissed her government in 1996. he accused her of sanctioning police hit squads.

Since then, dozens of policemen involved tn the cleanup operation have been killed, said Karachi police officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing retaliation.

"A large number of police officials. who were involved in . the operation during the previous government, have fallen victim of the revenge killings." one official said.

Sharif said he launched the crackdown in response to the killing of a well-known philanthropist. Hakim Said, who often criticised the MQM for its strong-arm tactics.

"The prime minister's allegations are baseless and a part of the conspiracy to vilify the MQM," said Kunwar Khalid Younus, a member of the group's mainstream faction and a lawmaker in the powerful lower house of Parliament.

"The government is using the false charge of the MQM's involvement in the Hakim Said's murder to crush the organisation and take control of Karachi," he said.

Gaining control of Karachi, which is dominated by Muslim

migrants from India, has been a Sal of successive governments.

Pakistan’s financial capital, the city brings in roughly 70 per cent of government revenue. Daily strikes and shutdowns have cost the government millions of dollars in revenues.

"One hour of strike causes a loss (to businesses) of more 300 million rupees (dlrs 6.5 million)." said Majiyed Aziz, a leading industrialist and a former president of Karachi chamber of commerce and industry.

Most businessmen, who have suffered financially from the lawlessness, support the government's crackdown.

But the latest crackdown has raised the danger of another round of armea insurgency. It also remains to be seen whether a police force that is notoriously corrupt and ineffective can meet the challenge.

It is unfair for the government to expect "highly demoralised and widely corrupt police force" to restore law and order', in Karachi, said Jamil Yousuf, head of the Citizen Police Liaison Committee, established more than six years ago to Improve relations between the police and the community.

"There is no protection for the efficient police officers, who put their lives on the line," he said.