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Pakistani police Tuesday recovered the bodies of six men
killed during violent protests in Karachi. The riots erupted after a
suicide attack at a Shi'ite mosque in the city killed five people and
injured 26 others.
Four of the victims were burned alive when the mob set fire to a
crowded restaurant. Police say two others froze to death while they hid in
the restaurant freezer.
Officials say all six were employees at the Kentucky Fried Chicken
outlet, a U.S.-based fast food chain.
The riots occurred Monday evening after a suicide bomb attack at a
Shi'ite mosque in eastern Karachi.
Police say three men led the attack. At least one of the men reportedly
belonged to a Sunni militant group blamed for previous attacks against
Shi'ite, Christian and government targets.
Senior police officer Mushtaq Shah says nearly a thousand protesters
quickly flooded the surrounding streets after the explosion.
"The riots started soon after the bombing," he said. "About a dozen
vehicles have been burned, five or six buses have been bombed, a KFC
outlet has been bombed, a couple of gas stations…"
In a separate incident Monday evening unknown assailants in Karachi
killed a popular Sunni Muslim cleric.
Aslam Mujahid was a senior member of Pakistan's largest Islamic group,
Jamaat-e-Islami.
Monday's violence comes just three days after a suspected suicide bomb
killed at least 19 and injured dozens more at a Shi'ite festival in
Islamabad.
The government has strongly condemned all three incidents. Meanwhile,
Mr. Shah says police in Karachi are bracing for a possible rise in
sectarian violence.
"We've put the entire force on high alert and we have deployed our
reserves on the streets at important points," he said.
Besides being Pakistan's largest city, Karachi is probably its most
violent. Clashes between Sunni and Shi'ite militants are not uncommon.
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