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Pakistan deploys troops in Karachi to quell violence

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, April 13, IRNA
Pakistan-Troops-Deployment
Troops were deployed in the restive Pakistani southern port city of Karachi on Thursday to check violence ahead of a funeral of several senior religious leaders who were killed in a deadliest bomb blast in the city two days ago, an army spokesman said.

Karachi has been in the grip of protests and burning of petrol stations and vehicles since Tuesday's blast, which killed more than 50 people and injured some 200 others.

Army spokesman in Karachi Colonel Idrees said the provincial government had requested deployment of troops to help the civil administration restore peace in the city.

He said the army had started patrolling parts of the city and that forces were being deployed in sensitive areas.

He said the provincial government had identified sensitive several areas for deployment.

Major business centers were closed in the city for a third day and public transport was thin on Thursday.

The Sunni Tehrik will hold a funeral of its leaders later in the evening and there are fears violence would flare up during the funeral procession.

The group said yesterday that 10 of its senior leaders were killed in the blast at Nishtar Park.

Sunni Tehrik refused to withdraw its 48-hour ultimatum to the federal government to arrest those responsible for the deadliest bomb attack after Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz sent two federal ministers to woo the group to withdraw its ultimatum.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Aziz held a meeting with clerics in Karachi on Thursday, the second day of his visit to the violence-hit city, seeking their cooperation to maintain peace.

The prime minister assured the clerics that those responsible for the blast will not be spared.

Scores of people took to the streets again on Thursday and burned public buses and a car and pelted stones at policemen, witnesses said.

Karachi has seen bombings and attacks since Pakistan joined the US-led coalition after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

2020/235/2321/1414