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| Thursday, 3 June 2004 |
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Mourners riot in violence-hit Pakistani city KARACHI, Wednesday (AFP) Pakistani police fired tear gas at thousands of Shiite Muslims in the troubled port of Karachi Tuesday as violence broke out among crowds mourning 20 people killed in a bomb attack the day before. Thousands of wailing, chest-beating Shiites had gathered near the Ali Raza mosque on one of Karachi's main boulevards to mourn the victims of Monday's attack, which police believe may have been the work of a suicide bomber. Mourners turned angry after a breakdown in negotiations with police on funeral procession routes and began torching cars and wrecking shops. Police fired tear gas to disperse them, an AFP reporter at the scene said. The victims were later buried in two graveyards on the outskirts of the city after which the large crowd dispersed. Police said they had detained some 150 people for arson and firing at officers during the clashes. The death toll in Monday's attack rose to 20 Tuesday when one of the 39 injured died in hospital, city police chief Tariq Jamil said. Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, has been engulfed by riots since Sunday, when a senior cleric from the rival Sunni sect was gunned down leaving his home. The riots have brought the commercial capital to a virtual standstill, with shopkeepers and public transport too scared of riots to operate. Supporters of the Sunni cleric, Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, a close friend of fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar, rampaged throughout Sunday. During riots by Shiites on Monday night, three people were killed in shoot-outs between police and protestors. Jamil said during rioting before the funeral protestors set fire to 35 vehicles and damaged outlets of US fast-food chains KFC and McDonalds. Five policemen sustained bullet wounds. Police believe Monday's mosque attack may have been carried out by a suicide bomber in revenge for Shamzai's killing. |
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