Date:30/12/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/30/stories/2007123054611400.htm

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Daily life on hold in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Normal life in violence-hit major Pakistani cities remained crippled on Saturday with shops, businesses and educational institutions being virtually shut to mourn the assassination of former Premier Benazir Bhutto.

People were unable to purchase essentials like food and fuel as all shops, gas stations, banks and offices were closed on the second day of the three-day mourning announced by the government after Bhutto's killing on Thursday evening.

Streets wore a deserted look in main cities like the national capital Islamabad, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Peshawar, a day after 54-year-old Bhutto was laid to rest in her ancestral graveyard in Larkana in Sindh.

At least 34 people have been killed in violent protests that erupted after Bhutto's assassination with her angry supporters burning tyres, train stations, clashing with police and taking out protest rallies across the country.

The paramilitary Pakistan Rangers were given "shoot-to-kill" orders yesterday to tackle protesters in Sindh province, a traditional stronghold of the PPP that witnessed the fiercest protests. Provincial Home Secretary Ghulam Mohammad Mohtaram said 23 deaths were reported across Sindh alone.

The situation was still tense in Karachi, the capital of Sindh, with a heavy troop presence on the streets.- PTI