Islamabad , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- At least 30 people were killed in Karachi on Monday night and Tuesday , the latest deaths in cycle of ethnic and political violence in Pakistan 's commercial capital . On Sunday , 60 motorcycles and five vehicles were burned in the city , said Murtaza Ali , a Karachi police official . The violence has killed more than 1,000 people this year , according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan . Nearly 200 people were slain in July alone . The rampant violence appears to have little to do with the Taliban and other Islamist extremist groups that are viewed by western leaders as Pakistan 's most pressing security problem . Rather , police and government officials say the violence is fueled by bitter ethnic rivalries and political parties vying for power in this mega-melting pot , home to roughly 15 million people from at least a half-a-dozen ethnic groups . Three political parties are usually at the center of the fight for power in Karachi : the Muttahida Qaumi Movement ( MQM ) , the Awami National Party ( ANP ) , and Pakistan 's People Party ( PPP ) . The PPP , led by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari , considers Karachi its political base , but politics here is dominated by the MQM , which represents `` muhajirs , '' the descendants of immigrants from India decades ago . In recent years , the MQM 's power has been challenged by the ANP , a secular party that represents ethnic Pashtuns . Hundreds of thousands of ANP supporters have migrated south to Karachi because of the militant violence in their home region of northwest Pakistan . Analysts say a general lack of law and order has allowed supporters of these parties to adopt a gang mentality . Like gangs , the factions often control different regions of Karachi that are usually off-limits to rivals .
The motorcycles were seized Sunday , police said . Police blame the rampant violence in Karachi on ethnic and political rivalries . More than 1,000 people have been killed this year . Three political parties are in a bitter power struggle .