Police have arrested twelve individuals in their crackdown following two brutal stabbings in the capital city.

Two individuals were attacked with a sharp object in mainland Malé City and its urban extension Hulhumalé.

24-year-old Haris Abdul Ghafoor was attacked while on his way to the state-operated rehabilitation center in Hulhumalé, where he was seeking treatment for narcotics abuse.

Police said that Haris had been stabbed over eight times and had already passed away when he was brought to the hospital for treatment.

Hours later, another man was stabbed at around 23:30 while he was at G-Six, a café near the parliamentary premises in Malé.

He had been taken to the hospital almost immediately, where doctors said that the man sustained three stab wounds.

In a press conference last week, police confirmed reports of an ongoing conflict between local street gangs.

They said that Nadheem Abdul Raheem’s murder in July was part of this ‘series of gang-related violence’.

24-year-old Nadheem was at the ‘Terminal Café’ in Malé City when he was stabbed in the head by a group of masked assailants; he succumbed to his injuries two days later.

Two days after Nadheem’s death, 25-year-old Mohamed Anas was chased by a group of assailants that cornered him to a motor-shop before brutally stabbing him to death.

In August, the police launched a manhunt for 34 suspected affiliates of said gangs after Home Minister Azleen Ahmed said that police had arrested 20 suspects in relation to the murders.