The curfew, imposed in Rawalpindi after Friday's deadly clashes has once again been enforced after a respite of three-and-a-half hours (09:00 PM to 12:30 AM) on Saturday night, Geo News reported.
Sources said that the administration was making efforts to calm the situation down with the help of Ulema (religious clerics) and other notables.
Meanwhile, the death toll from Friday’s violent sectarian clashes in Rawalpindi rose to nine on Saturday, while funeral prayers for those who lost their lives will be held at Liaquat Bagh on Sunday.
AFP adds: Pakistan called in its army Saturday to quell sectarian unrest in three cities, after nine people were killed in violent attacks, according to officials.
Authorities imposed a curfew in the city of Rawalpindi, where sectarian clashes on Friday left nine people dead and more than 60 injured, and spawned retaliatory violence in at least two other cities.
Fighting erupted in the garrison-city, which neighbours the capital Islamabad, when a procession coincided with a sermon at a nearby mosque.
"A curfew has been imposed in Rawalpindi city to avert further violence following the incidents on Friday," Waseem Ahmed, a police official told AFP.
"The curfew will remain until midnight on Saturday. The whole city has been closed down," he said.
Deeba Shehnaz, a spokeswoman for rescue services, told AFP: "According to the latest figures, we can now confirm the death of nine people from the sectarian violence on Friday. At least 68 others were wounded during the clashes."
Angry protesters attacked the mosque and seminary, torching its building and an adjacent cloth market, where workers on Saturday were still battling to extinguish the fire completely.
Rival groups then attacked each other, TV cameramen and security forces and also fired gunshots.
The authorities deployed large numbers of troops in the city and later imposed a full curfew as soldiers patrolled the streets to stop protesters coming in from other cities.
Violence also erupted in the southern city of Multan and Chishtian town, where civil authorities called in troops to maintain law and order.
All entry points into Rawalpindi were blocked, resulting in traffic chaos on Saturday morning that choked parts of the highways leading to Islamabad.3
Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab province, of which Rawalpindi is a major city, told an official meeting following the clashes that the government ensure the culprits for the clash are brought to justice.
"We condemn the act of violence in Rawalpindi and sympathise with the aggrieved families. We will take the culprits to the task," he said in his statement.
But one local legislator, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who is a member of the lower house of the parliament from the area said that violence there was the result of local administration's failure.
"I declare the local administration responsible for Friday's violent acts. They failed to control the situation," Ahmed told a news conference.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Rawapindi: Curfew reimposed after brief respite
The curfew, imposed in Rawalpindi after Friday's deadly clashes has once again been enforced after a respite of three-and-a-half hours (09:00 PM to 12:30 AM) on Saturday night, Geo News reported.
Sources said that the administration was making efforts to calm the situation down with the help of Ulema (religious clerics) and other notables.
Meanwhile, the death toll from Friday’s violent sectarian clashes in Rawalpindi rose to nine on Saturday, while funeral prayers for those who lost their lives will be held at Liaquat Bagh on Sunday.
AFP adds: Pakistan called in its army Saturday to quell sectarian unrest in three cities, after nine people were killed in violent attacks, according to officials.
Authorities imposed a curfew in the city of Rawalpindi, where sectarian clashes on Friday left nine people dead and more than 60 injured, and spawned retaliatory violence in at least two other cities.
Fighting erupted in the garrison-city, which neighbours the capital Islamabad, when a procession coincided with a sermon at a nearby mosque.
"A curfew has been imposed in Rawalpindi city to avert further violence following the incidents on Friday," Waseem Ahmed, a police official told AFP.
"The curfew will remain until midnight on Saturday. The whole city has been closed down," he said.
Deeba Shehnaz, a spokeswoman for rescue services, told AFP: "According to the latest figures, we can now confirm the death of nine people from the sectarian violence on Friday. At least 68 others were wounded during the clashes."
Angry protesters attacked the mosque and seminary, torching its building and an adjacent cloth market, where workers on Saturday were still battling to extinguish the fire completely.
Rival groups then attacked each other, TV cameramen and security forces and also fired gunshots.
The authorities deployed large numbers of troops in the city and later imposed a full curfew as soldiers patrolled the streets to stop protesters coming in from other cities.
Violence also erupted in the southern city of Multan and Chishtian town, where civil authorities called in troops to maintain law and order.
All entry points into Rawalpindi were blocked, resulting in traffic chaos on Saturday morning that choked parts of the highways leading to Islamabad.3
Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab province, of which Rawalpindi is a major city, told an official meeting following the clashes that the government ensure the culprits for the clash are brought to justice.
"We condemn the act of violence in Rawalpindi and sympathise with the aggrieved families. We will take the culprits to the task," he said in his statement.
But one local legislator, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who is a member of the lower house of the parliament from the area said that violence there was the result of local administration's failure.
"I declare the local administration responsible for Friday's violent acts. They failed to control the situation," Ahmed told a news conference.
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