KARACHI, March 23: Some parts of Lyari, particularly the Lea Market traffic intersection, on Friday looked like a war zone with many streets strewn with stones and spent teargas shells as clashes between police and protesters continued on a fourth consecutive day.

The fresh round of violence erupted late Thursday night following reports about yet another raid by police in the old city area.

While residents staged a protest demonstration against what they described as a one-sided operation launched after the killing of a Kuchhi Rabita Committee leader in Agra Taj Colony on March 18, an armoured personnel carrier of the police came under an attack late night.

Petrol bombs were lobbed at the APC, but no one was hurt in the incident. Two shops in the Lea Market area, however, caught fire. Petrol bomb attacks on the APCs continued on Friday. The protesters also hurled stones at the police who fired teargas shells to disperse them.

Some youths with their faces covered were seen using slingshots to throw stones at the police.

A helicopter was seen hovering over the densely populated locality.

The areas of Aath Chowk and Lea Market were worst affected. The protesters had blocked several roads with concrete slabs.

However, life in other parts of Lyari, including Nayabad, Memon Society, Daryabad and Moosa Lane, was relatively normal. “Shops are open here and people are busy buying commodities,” said a resident, who had bought household goods from the market, while speaking to Dawn.

The police claimed that by firing teargas shells, they managed to limit the violence to the Lea Market traffic intersection.

But residents of multi-storey apartments in the area complained that they were the worst sufferers. They said they had been stranded inside their homes for many days due to the ongoing clashes.

“For the past night, we’ve kept all windows shut yet we are unable to protect ourselves from the effect of teargas,” said a resident of the Lea Market area, narrating his traumatic experience.

Arrests

District South SSP Naeem Shaikh said that since late Thursday night, several dozen men had been rounded up by the police during the violence.

Witnesses said the police had not yet entered narrow streets in the area. The armoured personnel carriers attempted to go after the violent protesters, but finally they did not enter the lanes.

In the evening, some Rangers vans were seen heading to the strife-hit parts of Lyari for the first time since Sunday when the violent protests had erupted.