Islamabad , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- A former federal lawmaker is among at least 33 people killed in a fresh spate of violence over the past 24 hours in the Pakistani city of Karachi , police officials said Thursday . Several gunmen opened fire on Wajid Karimdad on Wednesday night shortly after he entered a restaurant for Iftar , the traditional post-fasting meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan , said Karachi police official Naeem Shah . Police suspect the gunmen targeted Karimdad , a member of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party . Most of the deaths on Wednesday night and Thursday morning were the result of drive-by shootings in Lyari and Baldia , two districts in Karachi that have been hit hard by years of ethnic and political violence . Some of the victims were shot to death after they were kidnapped , Shah told CNN . Officials say the killings appear to be linked to ongoing rivalries between three political parties vying for power in Pakistan largest city : the Muttahida Qaumi Movement ( MQM ) , the Awami National Party ( ANP ) , and the Pakistan Peoples Party ( PPP ) . The PPP , led by President Asif Ali Zardari , views Karachi as a crucial political battleground , but politics in Pakistan 's economic hub are dominated by the MQM , which represents `` muhajirs , '' descendants of immigrants from India decades ago . The ANP is a secular Pashtun party based in militant-plagued northwest Pakistan , whose supporters have migrated south to Karachi because of the violence in their home region . ANP supporters have the same ethnicity as the Taliban , so the MQM often accuses them of supporting militants . The ANP , in turn , accuses the MQM of organized crime and terrorist activity . Supporters of the PPP are accused of having links to criminal gangs as well . Analysts say lack of law enforcement has allowed supporters of the political parties to adopt a gang-like mentality . Police officials claim low pay , a lack of manpower and resources puts the police force at a disadvantage against the criminal gangs fueling the violence . According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan , violence between supporters of the political parties and other turf wars in Karachi have killed more than 1,000 people this year alone . Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report .
Several gunmen open fire on a former federal lawmaker . The gunman is killed in the exchange of gunfire, but one person remains at large. Karachi tackles years of ethnic and political violence .