10 killed, 35 hurt as gunmen open fire on rally

Karachi: At least 10 people, including a woman, were killed in a shootout and 35, including journalists, were injured when gunmen yesterday fired on a rally of ethnic Sindhi nationalists, witnesses and hospital officials said.

Several vehicles and roadside kiosks and shops were set on fire by angry protesters after the incident, even as nationalists called for a province-wide strike to protest the incident.

The rally was called by Awami Tehreek, an ethnic Sindhi nationalist party, against the movement for dividing the Sindh province and creating a Mohajir province.

The rally was launched from Lyhari district and was marching on I. I. Chundrigar Road on its way to the governor's house when some unknown miscreants opened fire on the rally near Paan Mandi, a congested neighbourhood.

Five people, including Khalil Adil and Aslam Khan, a camera person and a reporter, respectively, of a private television channel, sustained bullet injuries in their belly and feet. Both were moved to the Civil Hospital where they underwent surgeries, hospital officials said.

Three women participating in the rally were also injured. After the firing on the rally, a shootout between the police and unknown gunmen started near the City Court.

Ayaz Latif Palejo, the chief of Awami Tehreek, claimed four of its party workers were injured.

The rally was aimed to resist the move for a Mohajir province, being demanded by the descendants of Indian immigrants who had migrated to Pakistan after its creation in 1947.