KARACHI, Pakistan, Nov. 30, Reuter: At least six people died in gun battles and two bombs exploded on Monday as Pakistanis voted for local councilors in the first nationwide elections since the end of martial law in 1985, police and witnesses reported.
Police said three people were killed in a gun battle in Karachi ‘and witnesses said three died in a clash in Faisalabad in Punjab province,
The witnesses reported gun battles in the Punjab towns of Lahore, Sialkot and Rawalpindi, and said several people were injured A bomb exploded near a polling station in southwestern town of Quetta injuring three people and another explosion injured a man ‘with supporters of the Mohajiar about 32 km northwest of Quetta, police said.
‘There was no immediate evidence the explosions were linked to the elections, authorities said
Earlier police reported on man killed near Sukkur in Sind province but later they said the victim had survived.
Eyewitnesses in Karachi said a Pushtun candidate traded shots National Movement (MNM), ‘which champions the community ‘of Moslems who fled to Pakistan when it was carved out of British India in 1947.
At least 350 people have died ‘over the past year in violence in Karachi between Mohajirs and Pushtuns from northwest Pakistan.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 4, 1987
