Karachi riots flare

Press, 14 January 1987, Page 8

Karachi riots flare

NZPA-Reuter Karachi Troops dispersed rioters after 28 people were injured and about 100 houses and shops set ablaze in a fresh outbreak of ethnic violence yesterday in Pakistan’s biggest city, Karachi. Ethnic riots, which killed 186 people in Karachi last month, flared again during protests over the gruesome gang-rape and murder of two young women. Troops in trucks mounted with machine guns moved into the af-

fected areas of north Karachi, scared away the rioters and brought calm, the police said. Earlier, police firing tear-gas and warning shots had failed to disperse battling crowds of Pashtuns from the country’s north-west and Mohajir immigrants from India. The troops set up posts in the riot-hit areas and searched vehicles for arms, witnesses said. The clashes erupted as crowds of mainly Mohajir residents continued pro-

tests begun on Sunday night in five volatile districts of Karachi after the half-naked bodies of two young women were found near a graveyard. The protesters were complaining about what they called inadequate security for Karachi citizens. Witnesses said the protests took an ethnic turn when groups of Pashtuns attacked Mohajir localities. At least 100 shops and dwellings were set ablaze, they said.