Graphic: Violence in Pakistan

Thousands of troops were deployed across Pakistan yesterday, some with shoot-to-kill orders, as at least 31 people died in rioting over the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister and opposition leader.

Furious Pakistanis ransacked banks, burned down railway stations, shops and factories, and fought gun battles with police, raising fears that President Musharraf would reintroduce emergency rule and postpone the parliamentary elections scheduled for January 8.

The worst violence was in the southern province of Sindh, where Ms Bhutto was born and enjoyed widespread support, particularly in the port of Karachi – Pakistan’s largest city, with a population of 16 million, as well as its main financial and commercial hub.

Q&A: the murder of Benazir Bhutto

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A mob looted and set fire to at least three banks in the city, before engaging in a shoot-out with police that left three officers wounded, police said. Six people were burnt to death when another mob torched a leather factory, they said. Rioters also burned down a car showroom and ransacked a medicine factory and a private hospital.

Earlier in the day, angry crowds burnt ten railway stations and several trains around Sindh, forcing the suspension of train services between Karachi and the eastern province of Punjab.

Ghulam Mohammed Mohtaram, home secretary for Sindh, confirmed that the provincial government had requested the army’s help “to control the law and order situation” in Karachi and several other cities. Paramilitary rangers were authorised to use live ammunition to stop rioters from damaging property in southern Pakistan, said Major Asad Ali, the rangers’ spokesman. “We have orders to shoot on sight,” he said.

Most major cities in Pakistan were practically deserted yesterday as shops and other businesses shut down to observe three days of official mourning for Ms Bhutto.

In the central city of Multan, about 7,000 people ransacked seven banks and a gas station and threw stones at police, who responded with tear gas.

In the capital, Islamabad, about 100 protesters burned tyres in a commercial quarter.

About 4,000 Bhutto supporters held a rally in the northwestern city of Peshawar and several hundred ransacked the empty office of the main pro-Musharraf party, burning furniture and stationery.

In the northwestern Swat Valley, a blast at an election meeting killed six people including an election candidate, police said.

In the southwestern province of Baluchistan, protesters set fire to a railway station, several banks, government vehicles and the offices of a pro-Musharraf party.

There were sporadic protests elsewhere and one person was killed in the eastern city of Lahore.

Javed Iqbal Cheema, the Interior Minister, claimed that “vested groups” and criminals were taking advantage of the situation to loot and rob banks.

Fears were expressed yesterday about the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. But Colonel Gary Keck, a Pentagon spokesman, said: “At this time, we have no need for concern. Our assessment is that the Pakistani nuclear arsenal is under control.”

India – which has fought three wars with Pakistan – said it had put its border forces in a “high state of vigil” and suspended cross-border train and bus links until further notice.

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