(AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - As news of the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto spread across the country, thousands of her supporters have taken to the streets to | Only to be expected, of course. It's Pakistain: something happens, you riot. |
Youths holding weapons poured out onto the streets of the southern port city of Karachi and a report on the Pakistani Aaj TV, said that there was an attack at Al-Murtaza in Larkana which is the home of BhuttoÂ’s sister in law and political rival Ghinva Bhutto. Security agencies resorted to gunfire before the attackers fled the home.
Another report on Aaj TV said that the offices of the religious Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam Fazlur Rahman party in the city of Mirpurkhas, were also attacked as well as the offices of the former ruling party Pakistan Muslim League.
Police across the country, including those in Sindh have been put on high alert. A local businessman in Karachi, Azhar Malik told Adnkronos International (AKI) that when he returned from his office from the downtown area to his home in Karachi's North Nazimabad area, an armed mob encircled his car. In a phone interview, he told AKI that he was dragged out the vehicle which was then set on fire.
An IT manager at a local company, Kamran told AKI that his car was also set on fire when he was returning home from the office. “I took refuge in a local mosque and it seems that I will not be able to leave the mosque before morning,” said Kamran, in a phone interview with AKI.
A total of 34 vehicles have been set on fire in Karachi, the city's police official, Azhar Farooqui, told AKI.