Two killed in Pakistan bomb blasts
Two bombs have exploded killing two people in Karachi as a strike called by two militant ethnic-based parties paralysed Pakistan's Sindh province.
The first and most violent explosion occurred in the Clifton area of Karachi, killing the bomber and a passer-by.
A second bomb exploded just over a mile away, but there were no injuries.
Army and paramilitary soldiers cordoned off the area.
Initially police believed both victims were passers-by. Karachi is the provincial capital.
The bomb disposal squad said the crude home-made device was hidden on a bicycle. The blast blew out windows in nearby buildings.
No one took responsibility for either explosion, but police believe it is linked to the strike call by the ethnic Muttahida Qami Movement, an advocate for Urdu-speakers, and the Sindh nationalist Jeay Sindh group.
The strike was called to protest police excesses in controlling almost daily demonstrations in southern Karachi against a severe water shortage.
Unruly mobs in Karachi also set at least 40 vehicles on fire, police and witnesses said.
Gunmen ordered shops closed and fired in the air with automatic weapons to keep people off the street, they said.
The two militant groups routinely enforce their strike calls - a common means of protest in southern Sindh province - with violence.
