Lockdown: Curfew relaxed in Gilgit after four days

GILGIT:

People who have been stuck inside their homes for the past four days rushed to the markets on Friday after authorities relaxed curfew for two hours, allowing them to buy basic necessities.

The break in curfew was given from 3 pm to 5 pm, with army and other paramilitary troops patrolling the restive capital city where sectarian violence had broken out on Tuesday.  Unidentified motorcyclists lobbed a hand grenade on a rally held by Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat which claimed six lives and left 50 others wounded.

In retaliation, at least 10 men were killed in Chilas the same day, as a mob set four buses which were travelling to Skardu and Gilgit via the Karakoram Highway on fire.

Late on Thursday, the army raided houses in various residential areas of Gilgit and arrested nearly 200 men, sources told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2012.