Pakistan clashes leave 28 dead
The political crisis surrounding Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf deepened dramatically today, when gunbattles and clashes between supporters and opponents of the military-led government left 28 people dead in Pakistan’s biggest city.
The killings in Karachi were the first since Mr Musharraf triggered growing protests by suspending the country’s most senior judge, and further clouded the future of a key ally of the United States.
The involvement of a pro-government party in the violence prompted accusations that the unrest had authorities’ tacit approval – despite Musharraf’s appeals for calm and insistence that he will not declare emergency rule.
“If you really feel sorry over what has happened in Karachi, then stop these protests,” Mr Musharraf said during a speech tonight, to a huge rally of his supporters in the capital.
Chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry had planned to address what was billed as the largest rally yet of lawyers and opposition supporters calling for his reinstatement and for Musharraf to stand down.
However, he flew back to Islamabad in the evening having never made it out of Karachi’s international airport after activists for rival political groups fought street battles across the sprawling port city.
Just half a mile from the airport, gunmen with assault rifles traded fire in a residential area where streets were blocked by shipping containers and immobilised trucks and gunfire left several activists lying in pools of their own blood.
In another district, a private TV network came under fire but stayed on the air as rioters torched vehicles outside.
Opposition activists accused a pro-government party, the Mutahida Qami Movement (MQM), of attacking them with batons and gunfire as they attempted to greet the judge at the airport.
An AP reporter saw MQM supporters calling for ammunition and firing from buildings, reportedly at opposition supporters, who fired back.
There was no sign of intervention from security forces, who authorities said were 15,000 strong in the city.
Doctors at the city’s four main hospitals said 28 people were dead and more than 100 injured, many of them from gunshot wounds.
MQM leader Altaf Hussain – who lives in exile in London – blamed Chaudhry for the violence, saying he should have heeded warnings from officials to stay away.
In a speech by telephone to supporters gathered in a Karachi square, he said it was his party that was attacked, but urged the crowd to “control your emotions and demonstrate peace.”
