KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Saturday appealed to the citizens of Karachi and the business community in Sindh to resume commercial activity, and to bring life back to normalcy, DawnNews reported.

The MQM chief, while addressing the people via video from London, thanked the business community, transporters and citizens for observing a peaceful ‘day of mourning’ in protest of the recent loss of lives at the hands of miscreants in Karachi.

The people have recorded their peaceful protest against the ruthless killings of innocent citizens in the city, said the MQM chief, adding that the people should therefore reopen their shops and offices so that life in the city returns to normalcy.

The MQM chief Altaf Hussain had earlier urged the business community to support his call his call for a ‘day of mourning’ by keeping their businesses shut.

All public transport and schools remain closed on Saturday. Moreover, All Private Management School Association and the Karachi Transport Ittehad had also suspended their respective services for the day.

At least 14 people in Karachi, including policemen, had lost their lives in the last 24 hours as another wave of violence swept over provincial capital.

Funeral prayers were offered on Saturday for the three men killed in Karachi's Banaras locality.

Three out of five people, who got injured in a firing incident near Banaras Chowk late last night, had succumbed to their wounds.

Indiscreet firing from unknown miscreants also killed a man near Bilal Colony in Korangi.

On Friday, unidentified motorcycle riders near Baitul Mamur Mosque sprayed the Peerabad neigbourhood with bullets, killing Hidayatullah Mehsood, a member of the Awami National Party (ANP) Sindh Council, as a result.

Meanwhile, Orangi Town, Qasba Colony and Banaras, including some other areas had remained frenzied from incidents of erratic firing since late Thursday.