ASIA: Riots leave nine dead in Pakistan's port city of Karachi
30 Nov 2008 7:58 PM
KARACHI, Nov 30 AFP - At least nine people were killed and more than 70 injured after activists from rival political parties clashed across Pakistan's largest city Karachi, officials say.
Troops were authorised to use guns to quell the violence as members of the ruling coalition party Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) clashed with the Pashtun nationalist Awami National Party.
"In different incidents of firing (by rioters), nine people were killed and dozens of others injured," Karachi police chief Waseem Ahmed said.
Doctors at Karachi's main state-run Jinnah hospital said they had received 77 people injured in the riots since late Saturday.
The provincial government has deployed some 800 paramilitary rangers in the sensitive areas to help police control the situation.
Authorities shut down petrol stations across the port city, fearing further damage after mobs set fire to eight cars.
Political tensions between the ethnic Urdu-speaking MQM and Pashtuns from the North West Frontier Province who have settled in Karachi for jobs, has been the source of unrest in the past.
