At least 1,034 people were killed in Pakistan's commercial capital in the first 10 months of 2010, most of them victims of target killings, a government funded watchdog has said.
The Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) a government funded watchdog organisation has said that the number of casualties are the highest in last 15 years.
According to a report issued by the CPLC in the month of August some 162 people were killed while in June 135 people were killed in different parts of the city which is home to a population of 16 million and the financial hub of Pakistan.
Most of the deaths were related to the spate of target killings in the city that have increased in 2010 with different political and religious parties blaming each other for the violence.
The CPLC report says that the number of deaths in 2010 due to killings in Karachi is the highest since 1995. CPLC's records show the number is expected to increase as two more months of the year still remain.
Interestingly assassinations in Karachi in 2010 outnumber the suicide bomb or bomb blast casualties, The Gulf Today newspaper has reported that target killings in the city have claimed more lives than that of suicide bombing across the country in this year.
It says Pakistan was struck by 335 incidents of suicide bombings in 2010 that claimed 1,208 people's lives, whereas the number of target killings or assassinations during the same period was 1,233.
Analysts and security experts put down the increased number of target killings to activities by the land mafia, extortion rackets and politically motivated killings.