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| October 20, 2007 | Saturday | Shawwal 7, 1428 |
KARACHI: Lyari mourns victims of Thursday blast: Wave of shock as eight bodies arrive
KARACHI, Oct 19: Eight bodies have been brought to Lyari Town since late Thursday night when twin blasts hit the procession of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto leaving more than a hundred dead on Sharea Faisal.
Many people who lost their lives in the carnage had come from different parts of Lyari, trans-Lyari, Malir and Chanesar Goth, said a source, adding that among them nine belonged to Golimar, three to Bhimpura and four to Mowash. Reports of casualties were also received from Dalmia, he said.
Considered a stronghold of the Pakistan People’s Party, Lyari wore a deserted look on Friday as the late night incident had cast gloom over the whole community. There was virtually a complete strike not only in Lyari, but also in Kharadar, Mithadar and Ranchore Lane, Bhimpura and Chandbibi Road.
Shops and businesses remained closed and mourners stayed at home. Traffic on roads and streets was thin. In some parts of Lyari, tyres were burnt and barricades were placed on roads in protest against the blasts. Attendance in private and government institutions also remained thin while the government had already announced that educational institutions would remain closed on Friday.
Chances were that the number of the dead being brought to Lyari might increase as several people were still missing and bodies unidentified, said MPA Rafiq Engineer from Lyari.
He said the bodies of eight Pakistan People’s Party workers belonging to Lyari had been identified as Sajid Panjguri (Kalri), Abdul Khaliq Baloch (Sadr Bar Lane), Tariq Baloch, a footballer of the Karachi Port Trust, and Attaullah (Kalakot), Basit (Salar Compound), Nazir (Shah Beg Lane), Nasir alias Attu and Ali Mohammad (Nawalane).
He also confirmed the deaths of Rukhsana Faisal from Landhi, a member of Awam Dost Group in the City Council, and Zulfikar and Rashid, both cousins of Saeed Ghani, the Leader of Opposition in the City Council.
In Baghdadi, meanwhile, a group of youths staged a protest demonstration and raised anti-Musharraf slogans.
Condemning Thursday’s twin blasts, National Party Secretary-General Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo said it was a well-thought-out plan masterminded by the same forces who were responsible for the Nishtar Park blast and the May 12 bloodshed.
He said the state agencies could not absolve themselves as it was their prime responsibility to protect the life of citizens. Sympathising with the bereaved families, he called upon all the democratic forces to forge unity against ethno-terrorists and fascists.
Jamhoori Watan Party leader Shehzada Zafar also condemned the Thursday attack and termed it an act of “naked fascism” and “state terrorism”.
The JWP leader said he failed to understand how the terrorists penetrated the security net despite the deployment of 20,0000 security forces personnel. He expressed his sympathies with the families who lost their dear ones in the carnage.
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