Islamabad: Slain Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto's supporters went on a rampage today looting banks, burning train stations and clashing with police as authorities issued 'shoot-to-kill' orders to paramilitary forces in Sindh to tackle the rioters.

Authorities struggled to contain angry protests, mainly by workers of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, as at least 17 people were killed in violence in various parts of the country following her assassination, which was claimed by al-Qaeda.

Those who died in violent protests included three PPP workers who were killed during a clash with police at Dadu in Sindh today. A policeman died of his injuries after being shot during the unrest in Karachi, where angry protesters burnt an outlet of American fast-food chain KFC, reports reaching here said.

Paramilitary Pakistan Rangers spokesman Major Asad Ali said the rioters "did too much" last night and had damaged government property and harassed the people. Ali said the 'shoot-to-kill' orders were applicable only in Sindh, which witnessed the fiercest protests and where 16,000 Rangers personnel had been deployed to deal with the violence.

In Karachi, the capital of Sindh, mobs looted three banks before setting them on fire. An al-Qaeda leader based in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the assassination of Bhutto, who was shot by a suicide attacker after she addressed an election rally in nearby Rawalpindi on Thursday.

"We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat (the) 'mujahadeen'," al-Qaeda Commander and spokesman Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid told the Italian news agency Adnkronos International (AKI) in a phone call from an unknown location.

Protesters, most of them workers of PPP, vandalised commercial properties and shops, burnt trains and railways stations and clashed with police at many places. Much of their ire was directed against the offices and property of the PML-Q.

Pakistanis shocked by the assassination poured out on the streets for angry protests throughout the night and the violent protests continued today. Train services across Sindh were suspended after the railway stations at Kashmore and Kandhkot and two trains and a locomotive were burnt by protestors. Trains travelling to Sindh from other provinces were also stopped. PPP supporters burnt cars, including police vehicles, and shops and set tyres alight to block roads in Karachi.

The rioters also looted shops in upmarket areas like Clifton and damaged banks, post offices and government offices. PPP strongholds like Lyari and Malir in Karachi were very tense as hundreds of the party's workers took to the streets.

Hundreds of people were stranded at Karachi airport and other places in the city as public transportation went off the roads. Plumes of thick smoke were seen rising from different parts of the city. There were also protests in Thatta and Hyderabad, where 30 vehicles were torched on a highway. Several thousand people in the central city of Multan ransacked seven banks and a gas station and pelted stones at police, who responded with tear gas, reports said.

About 4,000 PPP supporters rallied in the northwestern city of Peshawar and hundreds of them ransacked and torched an office of PML-Q party which backs President Pervez Musharraf. Emotional scenes were witnessed in the Bhutto family's pocket borough of Larkana, where PPP supporters carrying banners of their leader attacked government offices, damaged vehicles and removed posters and banners of the ruling PML-Q.

There were also protests in many parts of the politically crucial Punjab province, including Lahore and Rawalpindi, where the markets, financial and educational institutions remained close and few vehicles were seen on the roads. Protesters also burnt election hoardings and tyres on the roads of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

In Punjab capital Lahore, Pakistan Rangers were deployed at the High Court, the provincial assembly and Governor's House.

In Gujrat, a stronghold of the PML-Q, PPP workers pulled down and burnt PML-Q banners and flags, vandalised a petrol pump. They also clashed with police, creating panic in the city.

Life across Balochistan province was hit by a strike called by the opposition grouping All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM). There were protests in Balochistan capital Quetta and other cities. Traffic on the Taftan highway to Iran was also affected. Police used teargas to disperse protesters and arrested at least 15 PPP workers.

In the restive North West Frontier Province, life was hit by a strike in provincial capital Peshawar and other cities. Businesses were closed and roads were deserted as PPP workers burnt tyres to block traffic in Peshawar.

Though police forces and the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers were put on "red alert" across Pakistan soon after Bhutto's killing, reports from many places said the personnel did not take strong action against rioters last night.

Source : PTI