Karachi shuts down as city mourns

Karachi, Pakistan's commercial hub, shut down on Wednesday for a day of mourning after a fresh wave of violence that has killed at least 72 people since Saturday. Violence first erupted in the city on Saturday ahead of a by-election to replace a provincial legislator who was murdered in August. Police said four people were killed in different incidents on Wednesday, bringing to 32 the number who have died in the last 24 hours. Ten people died in a single attack on Tuesday in the Sher Shah area. Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said: "Schools are closed, markets are closed and there is very little traffic on the roads and of course the political parties are all saying that their people were the victims even though the residents of Karachi know that the victims were on all sides. "There has been some trouble in certain parts of the city, shops and hotels set on fire." It has been difficult to maintain security in Karachi, home to Pakistan's main port, stock exchange and central bank and the main gateway for Western military supplies bound for neighbouring landlocked Afghanistan. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement[ MQM], which is the dominant political force in Karachi, has stepped up pressure on the government to stem the last days' violence, saying its workers were among those killed. "It seems that there is no government in Karachi. The government has failed to protect the lives and properties of the people of Karachi," Altaf Hussain, the leader of the MQM, said in a statement from self-imposed exile in London.