KARACHI, July 15: Enraged youths attending the funeral procession of Allama Hasan Turabi set on fire a number of vehicles, a fast food outlet and a petrol pump and damaged other property here on Saturday.
Allama Turabi, who was killed with his nephew in a suicide bombing on Friday, was laid to rest on the premises of a mosque in Abbas Town. His funeral prayers were offered at Mehfil Shah-i-Khurasan and attended by hundreds of mourners who were shouting slogans against the government and the United States.
The city wore a deserted look following a strike call given by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal to protest against the killing of the Shia leader.
Major trading and commercial centres remained closed and vehicular traffic was thin. The city remained tense all day long with massive deployment of police and Rangers.
Meanwhile, police investigators could not make any headway in establishing identity of the suicide bomber, whose severed head was found at the site of the blast.
However, they said that the bomb used in the incident and the way of the attack indicated involvement of a militant outfit, Jaish-i-Mohammad. They said that the possibility of involvement of the banned splinter group of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi could not be ruled out.
They said that the investigations were being carried out on all the possible angles.
As the Sindh government announced a reward of Rs5 million for information about the bomber, provincial Home Minister Rauf Siddiqui warned religious scholars and leaders to take extra security measures as he feared more terrorist attacks.
