Islamabad, April 12 (Inditop.com) Seven people were killed and nearly 100 wounded in Abbotabad city as protests against renaming of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) as Khyber-Pakhtoonkhawa turned violent on Monday, police and eyewitnesses said.
The protestors, who are also demanding the creation of a separate province of Hazara, also set the Cantonment Police Station on fire, badly damaging the building, Online news agency reported.
Despite prohibitory orders banning the gathering of five or more people being in force, infuriated workers of the Tehrik-e-Sooba Hazara or Hazara Province Movement came out on the streets of Abbotabad and clashed with the police, who fired teargas shells and resorted to baton charges.
According to hospital sources, several of the injured were brought there, of whom seven critically hurt people died.
The protestors also held black flags and raised slogans against the government.
Workers of different political parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party, the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazlur and common people were among the protestors.
All main and small business hubs were closed and the roads presented a deserted look. Educational institutions were also closed.
Abbotabad is the third largest city in the province after capital Peshawar and Manshera.
In Mansehra too, student organisations blocked an arterial road while staging a protest demonstration.
Pakistan’s National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, last week passed a constitutional amendment that stripped the president of his sweeping powers and also renamed NWFP as Khyber-Pakhtoonkhawa.
