KARACHI, Oct 13: A worst kind of traffic jam was witnessed on M. A. Jinnah Road near Guru Mandir roundabout as a group of people blocked the road and staged a sit-in in protest against the US bombing on Afghanistan.

They were chanting slogans against the government for providing air-field to the US.

As a result of their protest in the morning, people travelling by bus and in their private cars got stuck up and they had to face immense problems.

The law enforcement agencies reached the spot to control the situation and dispersed the protesters to allow the traffic movement. However, traffic was diverted to alternative routes to ease the traffic congestion. Due to a sit-in, the traffic was moving in a haphazard manner on Jamshed Road, Business Recorder Road, Bahadur Yar Jang Road, Jehangir Road and M.A. Jinnah Road. The traffic police also reached the spot to control the traffic movement.

DIG Karachi Tariq Jamil told Dawn that there was no violence at all in the city and a group of people staged a protest near Guru Mandir. He said the area Nazim was contacted and asked to meet the protesting people to solve the problem. The city police chief said the situation remained under control and no untoward incident took place.

He said it was a part of a series of protests being organized by different groups after they realized that the government had apparently allowed them to hold meetings. Two more similar protests were held at NIPA intersection in Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Godhra Camp in New Karachi, where police controlled the situation, dispersed the protesters and allowed the traffic movement.