At least four more buses were set on fire in different parts of the city on early Friday morning, increasing the total number of buses torched in the two-day violence to eight.
“After the sunrise, four buses were set on fire in the Site, Landhi and Khudadad Colony areas,” said an official at the city’s central fire station.
He added that a minibus bearing registration number JE-2435 was set on fire in Landhi 36-B, followed by arson attacks on another bus (JE-6050) in Landhi 3½. Miscreants also set fire to a wagon (PE-4428) in Khudadad Colony and a minibus (JE-5950) in the SITE area, he said.
Police said that gunfire was heard in Shah Faisal Colony, New Karachi, Korangi, Lines Area and some other localities in the early morning, but no casualty was reported in any part of the city.
Most business centres and markets remained closed during the day though a mixed trend was witnessed at CNG stations and petrol pumps, which were found open at some prominent places.
Traders believed it was mainly because of fear that the city remained closed on the day of mourning.
“There are around 500 regularised markets in the city, according to a rough estimate, but I don’t think any of them was properly run today,” said Ateeq Meer, the chairman of the Alliance of Market Associations – a common platform for nearly 300 market and traders’ associations in the city.
“Traders who attempted to open their businesses in some markets were forced to pull down shutters by armed men riding motorbikes,” he said, adding that law-enforcers failed to prevent such incidents.
He said every Pakistani and Muslim was deeply grieved by the tragic incident but to turn the day of mourning into a strike under fear served no one.
“On an average, some four to five billion rupees change hands everyday at retail level. That provides bread to over two million daily wagers and labourers. With these figures in mind, one can easily assess the negative impact of a single day strike,” Mr Meer said.
Expressing similar concerns, transporters blamed police authorities for leaving the city abandoned despite repeated appeals of security to the transporters and their stakes.
“If armed men riding motorbikes intercept buses on main roads, beat drivers and set fire to the buses and a strike-like call is given by different parties, how can one expect normal operation of public transport,” said Irshad Bukhari of the Karachi Transport Ittehad.
He said the transporters had lost nearly a dozen vehicles in the spate of violence that erupted after the shrine bombings.
He also said that whenever transporters took up the issues of their losses with the authorities concerned, a fresh episode of arson attacks put the previous issue on the backburner.
Suicide bombers attack Shah Ghazi’s Shrine; 10 martyred
At least Ten pilgrims have been martyred in twin suicide blasts at Holy Shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in Karachi on Thursday late evening.
Ten Pilgrims have been martyred and dozens others injured in twin suicide bomb blasts at the entrance of Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine in Clifton, Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza said.
The heads of the bombers have been recovered from the blasts site, he added.
The twin blasts occurred within minutes of each other at the shrine’s gate, sources said.
A large number of faithfuls and pilgrims as well as others gather at Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine everyday and the number grows manifold, particularly, on Thursday.
Rangers and heavy contingents of police have arrived at the blasts site where rescue activities are being carried out by emergency services.
Rescue teams and law enforcing agencies have reached on the spot. The area has been cordoned off by the police and the rangers. Thousands of pilgrims visit the shrine on Thursday night. An emergency has been imposed in city’s major hospitals.
The first blast took place at the walk-through gate and the second blast occurred within next few minutes outside the office of the Manager Auqaf in the premises of the Shrine.
Several attacks have targeted Pakistan's mosques and shrines in recent years, majority of them blamed on banned militant groups of Taliban, Laskar-e-Jhangvi, Sipah-e-Sahaba and other Nasbi-Wahabi Groups.
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