World | Pakistan
Pakistan erupts in fury
Thousands of mourners paid their last respects to Benazir Bhutto as her supporters retaliated in a frightening spasm of violence.
- By Shahid Hussain, Correspondent
- Published: 00:34 December 29, 2007
- Supporters of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto carry her coffin wrapped in the Pakistan Peoples Party flag outside her ancestral home during her funeral in Naudero.
- Image Credit: Reuters
Islamabad: Hundreds of thousands of mourning Pakistanis paid their last respects to Benazir Bhutto on Friday as her furious supporters in other cities ransacked banks, waged shootouts with police and burned train stations in a frightening spasm of violence less than two weeks before a crucial election.
Rioting and political violence following Bhutto's assassination on Thursday has killed 32 people, according to a toll from several officials across the country on Friday, agencies reported.
Twenty-three people died in clashes and protests in Bhutto's political heartland of southern Sindh province, home secretary Gulam Mohammad Mohtaram said.
The army was deployed in 16 districts of Sindh. Paramilitary forces earlier said they had been given orders to shoot rioters on sight in Karachi.
Pakistan's interior ministry told news agencies on Friday an Al Qaida phone call was intercepted moments after Bhutto was killed and there was "irrefutable evidence" the group was trying to undermine the country.
As the nation mourned the killing of Bhutto, cricket legend Imran Khan warned that Pakistan was heading "towards chaos" and called for President Pervez Musharraf to quit following the assassination.
"Pakistan is going towards chaos. Musharraf kept saying he will crush terrorism... today terrorism is crushing us," Reuters quoted Khan as saying in Mumbai.
In Washington, the Pentagon said on Friday that Pakistan's nuclear weapons arsenal was secure despite the political turmoil.
"Our assessment is that the Pakistani nuclear arsenal is under control," said spokesman Colonel Gary Keck.
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