KARACHI, May 15: Frustrated by a bloody spell of violence that left over 40 dead in three days, citizens on Tuesday hoped for a return to normality as the city remained largely peaceful.

However, ethnic strife caused two rival groups to trade gunfire in violence-hit areas of Lyari and Orangi Towns.

Residents of Banaras, Aligarh Colony, Mujahid Colony, MPR Colony and Islamia Colony said they spent a sleepless night as they heard the sound of gunshots out in the street.

The provincial police chief, Niaz Siddiqui, told Dawn that patrols by security forces had been increased.

“We have put the police on alert to maintain law and order in the province in view of the Peshawar blast.”

A bomb killed 25 people in Peshawar on Tuesday. No one claimed responsibility for the suspected suicide blast in the lobby of a hotel popular with Afghans in the capital of the NWFP, where militants opposed to government support for the United States have launched attacks.

Strife-torn areas like Nusrat Bhutto Colony, dominated by Pushto-speaking people, saw an outbreak of violence when a young man was shot dead on Tuesday.

The slain man’s family claimed that the victim, identified as 25-year-old Shahjahan, was gunned down as soon as he opened his shop. Police insisted it was a suicide case, however.

Shops, markets, educational institutions, industrial units and other business and commercial activities resumed on Tuesday. Motorists made a dash for petrol stations, which remained closed since May 12.