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Jacobabad of South Pakistan Closed as Demonstrations go Violent
Major roads leading to Jacobabad, southern Pakistan, had been closed, and anyone trying to reach the city was being checked thoroughly, according to reports reaching Sunday.
The police fired teargas and warning shots to disperse angry demonstrators who were protesting U.S.-led airstrikes against neighboring Afghanistan and its use of the local airport.
Reports said a total of 349 powerful demonstration leaders were arrested by the authorities.
The demonstrators in their thousands collected outside a hotel in the central part of the city and began moving toward Jacobabad Air Base.
Heavily armed police who had virtually sealed off the city patrolled the streets where angry demonstrators responded by throwing stones and shouting. A jeep filled with paramilitary troops also was attacked.
U.S.-led forces began the second week of airstrikes against Afghanistan Sunday for its refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect of the 9.11 terror attacks in the United States.
However, the ruling Taliban of Afghanistan rejected U.S. demand for turning over bin Laden the second time Sunday. Stating that that it would not "hand over anybody" to the U.S., the Taliban said the U.S. had not provided "solid evidence" that bin Laden was behind the terror attack.
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