Pakistan's Supreme Court is calling on political parties in Karachi to cut all ties to criminal groups that it blames for “unimaginable brutalities” in the country's financial capital.

The court issued its review Thursday of what is believed to be the worst ethnic and political violence in Karachi since the army intervened in street battles in the 1990s. More than 1,000 people have been killed in the southern port city so far this year.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who led the review, said that criminal groups are allegedly getting political and financial support from political parties parties. He urged the parties to renounce their affiliation with militants in the interest of Pakistan.

The review determined that any further government failure to protect citizens' lives and property will likely cause unprecedented disaster, especially to the country's economy.

The Supreme Court also declared that Karachi's police must put an end to any “no go areas,” or places deemed so dangerous that security forces rarely enter. The court ruled that, if necessary, the paramilitary rangers should take strong and decisive action to eliminate such places.

The sprawling city of 18 million has had a long history of ethnic violence between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, representing the dominant Urdu-speakers, and the ethnic Pashtun Awami National Party.