KARACHI, July 17: Police on Tuesday fired teargas shells and shots in the air to disperse people protesting near Numaish against the blockade of a website about the targeted killings of Shias across the country.

The law-enforcers swung into action when the rally attempted to move towards the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) office from Numaish against the blockade of www.shiakilling.com.

Despite requests from police officials to abandon the protest, the marchers pressed for going ahead with the rally led by Maulana Mirza Yousuf Hussain and organised by Shia Action Committee, said the police.

The police said they fired teargas shells at the crowd, forcing marchers to seek cover in the narrow lanes along Britto Road.

They added that some protesters resorted to firing, while others appeared at Numaish and torched tyres, suspending traffic on the thoroughfare.

While Majlis-i-Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) chief Allama Aftab Jaffery was holding talks with the law-enforcers after the situation turned violent, a passenger coach was set on fire on Solider Bazaar Road.

The post of the SP of Gulshan division has been vacant for the past some days and there was no immediate officer to handle the situation.

Following the police action, all the shops and markets in the Solider Bazaar area were closed.

The rally and the subsequent police action caused traffic congestion on M.A. Jinnah Road, Saddar, Sharea Faisal and other adjoining roads.

The police claimed to have picked up several suspects from the area over the breakdown of law and order.

“The blockade of the website about killings of Shias came almost a week after the regulatory body had blocked the official website of the Ahmadiyya community, which was unblocked later,” said an organiser of the rally.