Pakistan ordered extra troops into Karachi on Sunday as deadly violence over the suspension of the country’s chief justice spilled into a second day, raising the death toll to 37. Three people including a policeman were the latest victims as protesters blocked the main highway with burning tyres and pelted vehicles with stones. Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi described the situation as “very tense.”“The assailants set his bike on fire and tortured him before shooting him from close range,” said police officer Shafiqur Rehman, referring to his dead colleague. Two other men were shot dead in separate incidents.
Heavy gunfire was also heard in the southern port cityÂ’s impoverished Banaras Chowk area, where angry protesters beat up four policemen. Police used tear gas to clear the roadblock on the main highway. Amid heavy gunfire nearby, a mob set ablaze around eight bamboo shops of rival groups after prayers at the funeral of a violence victim in KarachiÂ’s Federal-B area, but paramilitary troops and firefighters stopped the fire. The funerals of two other casualties went ahead peacefully near the tomb of PakistanÂ’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Opposition parties observed a “black day” on Sunday over the Karachi killings and held protests in several Pakistani cities. Activists burnt an effigy of Musharraf in central Multan city with calls that he should resign.
The turmoil followed deadly clashes that broke out on Saturday between supporters of suspended chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and President Pervez Musharraf, who were due to hold rival mass rallies in Karachi. Gunmen armed with Kalashnikov rifles and pistols roamed the volatile southern port city throughout the day, torching vehicles and clashing with supporters of Chaudhry.