A policeman was killed and 10 others injured as bombs rocked Pakistan's commercial hub of Karachi during a protest strike today, officials said.
The strike, called by two local parties, paralysed the city following a night of bloody anti-government violence in which two people died.
City police chief Mr Abdul Majid Dasti said police had recovered a bomb from the seaside Clifton area and put it in their van to take elsewhere for detonation. He added the bomb was so powerful that it blew up the police van.
Two of the wounded policemen were a in serious condition, Mr Dasti added.
Three more people were injured in another blast outside a restaurant near the fashionable Clifton area, he said. The bomb was planted under a table.
A third bomb exploded in the nearby Boat Basin area late today, injuring a man who was was believed to carrying the device, Mr Dasti said.
Troops were deployed in key points around Sindh as authorities feared an escalation in violence amid a general strike called by two local political parties.
The strike was called after police allegedly shot and killed two protesters during demonstrations over water shortages on Sunday.
Today, protesters torched three vehicles in Hyderabad, 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of here, residents said, adding that gunfire and firecrackers were heard overnight.
The strike also impacted Larkana, the hometown of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and the nearby city of Sukkur, while a partial shutdown was reported in about half a dozen small towns throughout the province.
AFP