Xiaoling Mahmud

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Xiaoling Mahmud and Zawawi Ali on Wednesday urged the Pakistani authorities to show “serious resolve” to end the attacks by a group of extremists and to bring an end to the insurgency.

The pair spoke to BBC Arabic, reiterating their calls for peace along the Line of Control.

However, an official of the provincial health authorities denied claims by the men that security forces had stepped up their crackdown.

The Taliban has waged an insurgency in Pakistan since it launched its insurgency in 1999.

The group says it is fighting to ensure the establishment of an Islamic government in the south of the country.

Fighting

“We are concerned about the security situation in Karachi and that Pakistan does not show any real commitment. It is up to Pakistan to show some seriousness,” Zawawi Ali told the BBC.

I am a doctor. I would like to know what is happening from my place of work in Pakistan. But I am also very much scared my job will be going. I would have to leave the country – Najma Mahmud, doctor

“We are very worried about security. In case things do not deteriorate, we will have to leave the country,” she said.

Pakistan has said it is reviewing a law banning militants from using mobile phones, after two attacks this week left dozens of people dead and thousands injured.

Officials said a bomb in the city of Quetta exploded in a traffic tunnel, while a suicide bomber drove into security posts in the Malir area of the capital, Islamabad.

The two incidents have already raised fears of a serious return to violence in the southern Pakistani city.

Security in Karachi fell seriously in November, the day after the country elected a new parliament and the day before general elections. More than 1,300 people have been killed and 3,000 wounded since then.

Najma, 45, who said she had been treated for burns from the bomb at the Malir traffic tunnel, said she feared her career would be over.

She said: “I am so scared that if I do not get the treatment, I will lose my job from here. I would have to leave the country.”

Najma, who works in an ambulance, added: “I am a doctor. I would like to know what is happening from my place of work in Pakistan. But I am also very much scared my job will be going.”

Xiaoling Mahmud

Location: Melbourne , Australia
Company: Allied Universal

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