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World & Nation

In Karachi, Pakistan, few families are untouched by crime

A Pakistani guard with a private security firm practices at a shooting range in Karachi. The port city is a buzzing hub of beaches, malls, restaurants -- and the odd shooting range where an army of private security guards train to protect the city's well-heeled. As growing insecurity grips the nation, with the military battling Taliban militants in swaths of the northwest and crime on the rise, the security industry is thriving.

A Pakistani guard with a private security firm practices at a shooting range in Karachi. The port city is a buzzing hub of beaches, malls, restaurants -- and the odd shooting range where an army of private security guards train to protect the city’s well-heeled. As growing insecurity grips the nation, with the military battling Taliban militants in swaths of the northwest and crime on the rise, the security industry is thriving.   (Asif Hassan / AFP/Getty Images)

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Karachi is Pakistan’s economic hub and also its crime capital. If you haven’t been kidnapped, you’ve probably been mugged.

Karachi crime

A Pakistani instructor teaches trainees of a private security firm how to operate a shotgun in Karachi, where even middle-class families hire personal guards.   (Asif Hassan / AFP/Getty Images)

Karachi crime

Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is seen in this picture sent to news media organizations by his kidnappers. Pearl was abducted in Karachi, Pakistan, in January 2002 and later killed.   (CNN / Getty Images)

Karachi crime

Pakistani volunteers transfer the bodies of slain kidnappers to a hospital in Karachi. Police raided a kidnapping gang’s hide-out and rescued a teenage boy being held for half a million dollars in ransom. The raid left four kidnappers dead; a fifth suspect was arrested.   (AFP/Getty Images)

Karachi crime

Pakistani paramilitary soldiers cordon off an area during a targeted operation in Karachi. The city has been beset by rampant violence in recent years, but a security crackdown seems to have brought a lull in the bloodshed. Kidnappings for ransom, sectarian attacks and gang warfare have spiraled since 2008.  (Asif Hassan / AFP/Getty Images)

Karachi crime

Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city, its economic engine and financial hub. Its stock exchange -- whose index is up more than 40% this year, one of the world’s best performers -- hosts traders doing million-dollar deals. But Karachi is also a place where even middle-class people have personal guards and gunfights erupt among rival gangs muscling into one another’s territory.   (Rizwan Tabassum / AFP/Getty Images)

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