At least 33 people, including four policemen, have been killed since former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was murdered on Thursday in a gun and bomb attack after an election rally, AFP quoted officials as saying. Around 16,000 troops were deployed in several parts of Sindh where Rangers have been ordered to shoot rioters at sight, officials said. In Karachi, rioters continued ransacking buildings despite shoot-at-sight orders given to Rangers against violent protesters, according to staff report. Five people were killed as 120 rioters were arrested. Six police installations, a post office, ten banks, one KFC restaurant, one Pizza Hut, two union council offices, and the Muttahida Qaumi MovementÂ’s election office were destroyed in Karachi. In the east of the city, more than 2,000 people attacked a police station and set it ablaze beside torching a factory in which six people were killed.
Pakistan Railways (PR) has suspended services between Lahore, Karachi and Quetta due to burning of trains, coaches and bridges, Railways sources said. Police and witnesses said the protesters had set fire to about 25 banks, 100 vehicles and foreign restaurants in Hyderabad.
Two people were killed in Lahore in the past two days. A mob set ablaze a fire brigade station. The Punjab government deployed 5,000 Rangers in 10 major cities, according to staff report. Gujranwala General Post Office was burnt after more than 1,000 people attacked it. Protesters in Rawalpindi also tried to vandalise former minister Sheikh Rashid AhmedÂ’s Lal Haveli, but the police dispersed them. Protesters in Balochistan set fire to a railway station, several banks, government vehicles and offices of the PML-Q, police told Reuters. In Multan, seven banks and eight petrol stations were damaged.
