ISLAMABAD: Normal life in violence-hit major Pakistani
cities remained
crippled on Saturday with
shops, businesses and educational
institutions being virtually shut to mourn the assassination of former
Premier Benazir Bhutto.
People were unable to purchase essentials like food and fuel as all
shops, gas stations, banks and offices were closed on the second
day of
the three-day mourning announced by the government after Bhutto''s
killing on Thursday evening.
Streets wore a deserted look in main cities like the national
capital Islamabad, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Peshawar, a day after
54-year-old Bhutto was laid to rest in her ancestral graveyard in
Larkana in Sindh.
At least 34 people have been killed in violent
protests that erupted
after Bhutto''s assassination with her angry supporters burning tyres,
train stations, clashing with police and taking out protest rallies
across the country.
The paramilitary Pakistan Rangers were given "shoot-to-kill" orders
yesterday to tackle protesters in Sindh province, a traditional
stronghold of the PPP that witnessed the fiercest protests. Provincial
Home Secretary Ghulam Mohammad Mohtaram said 23 deaths were reported
across Sindh alone.
The situation was still tense in Karachi, the capital of Sindh, with a heavy troop presence on the streets.- PTI
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