Death toll on Karachi streets rises to 37

KARACHI – Pro-government and opposition groups blamed each other yesterday for the worst political violence to grip Pakistan in years, as fresh riots broke out and the toll from bloody street battles in Karachi rose to 37 dead and over 150 wounded.

Unrest resumed yesterday in several ethnic Pashtun-dominated neighbourhoods of the city, and “unknown people” fatally shot a man identified as Saifur Rehman, police officer Shad Masih said. He said police dispersed a crowd in the area using tear gas.Competing rallies timed for a visit to Karachi on Saturday by the country’s top judge sparked gunfights and clashes between rival political activists that left corpses in the streets and raised new fears for the nation’s stability.A crisis has been brewing since President General Pervez Musharraf suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry on March 9 over allegations he abused his office.Critics accuse Musharraf, also army chief, of trying to sideline the independent-minded judge in case of legal challenges to efforts to prolong his nearly eight-year rule.Newspaper editorials on Sunday lamented the descent into chaos and violence.”It appeared at times as if there was no government in Karachi and it was gunmen who ruled the nation’s biggest city,” said the respected Dawn daily.The front-page headline in The News referred to a “Karachi bloodbath.”Order was largely restored Sunday.Security forces in armoured personnel carriers and pickup trucks topped with machine guns patrolled the streets, which were mostly peaceful and deserted.But tensions remained high, particularly Pashtuns and Urdu-speaking supporters of the pro-government Mutahida Qaumi Movement party.Opposition parties have accused the MQM of initiating much of Saturday’s violence, in which Pashtun supporters of Chaudhry were among the dead.Youths pelted police with stones, and gunfire rang out in at least three neighbourhoods as factions clashed, including the area where Rehman, a Pashtun, was killed.Police reported three other men were hospitalised with gunshot wounds.In one northern district, firefighters were battling flames spreading through a row of Pashtun-owned shops shortly after a funeral procession for an MQM activist killed the day before had passed through the area.Several cars were also torched, sending a plume of black smoke into the sky.Officials contacted at four hospitals across Karachi said the casualty toll had risen to 37 dead and about 150 wounded.Karachi police chief Azhar Faruqi said several people have been arrested in connection with Saturday’s violence but gave no details.He declared that authorities were “now in control of the city.”On Saturday, officials said a security force of 15 000 was deployed in the city.But there was no sign of intervention in the violence.Nampa-APHe said police dispersed a crowd in the area using tear gas.Competing rallies timed for a visit to Karachi on Saturday by the country’s top judge sparked gunfights and clashes between rival political activists that left corpses in the streets and raised new fears for the nation’s stability.A crisis has been brewing since President General Pervez Musharraf suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry on March 9 over allegations he abused his office.Critics accuse Musharraf, also army chief, of trying to sideline the independent-minded judge in case of legal challenges to efforts to prolong his nearly eight-year rule.Newspaper editorials on Sunday lamented the descent into chaos and violence.”It appeared at times as if there was no government in Karachi and it was gunmen who ruled the nation’s biggest city,” said the respected Dawn daily.The front-page headline in The News referred to a “Karachi bloodbath.”Order was largely restored Sunday.Security forces in armoured personnel carriers and pickup trucks topped with machine guns patrolled the streets, which were mostly peaceful and deserted.But tensions remained high, particularly Pashtuns and Urdu-speaking supporters of the pro-government Mutahida Qaumi Movement party.Opposition parties have accused the MQM of initiating much of Saturday’s violence, in which Pashtun supporters of Chaudhry were among the dead.Youths pelted police with stones, and gunfire rang out in at least three neighbourhoods as factions clashed, including the area where Rehman, a Pashtun, was killed.Police reported three other men were hospitalised with gunshot wounds.In one northern district, firefighters were battling flames spreading through a row of Pashtun-owned shops shortly after a funeral procession for an MQM activist killed the day before had passed through the area.Several cars were also torched, sending a plume of black smoke into the sky.Officials contacted at four hospitals across Karachi said the casualty toll had risen to 37 dead and about 150 wounded.Karachi police chief Azhar Faruqi said several people have been arrested in connection with Saturday’s violence but gave no details.He declared that authorities were “now in control of the city.”On Saturday, officials said a security force of 15 000 was deployed in the city.But there was no sign of intervention in the violence.Nampa-AP