Riots in Karachi after cleric killed
uploaded 02 Jun 2004KARACHI: Thousands of Sunnis rampaged through this volatile southern Pakistani city yesterday, ransacking property and stoning vehicles after unidentified gunmen assassinated an influential pro-Taleban cleric.
Enraged by the drive-by shooting of Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, rioters set fire to banks, shops, a police station and a KFC fast food restaurant, and traded gunfire with security forces, leaving more than a dozen people injured. Tens of thousand of mourners later gathered for the evening funeral.
The soft-spoken cleric was shot dead as he travelled in a pickup truck to his Sunni religious school in the east of the city. Sunnis set fires and pelted passing vehicles with stones.
Hundreds raided a police station near Shamzai’s school, Jamia Islamia Binor Town, beating up three policemen and setting fire to vehicles. Police said rioters set fire to four banks and Quaid-e-Azam Academy. They ransacked shops, a KFC restaurant, a cinema and a gas station, and snatched two ambulances.
Source: Agencies
