KARACHI / HYDERABAD, May 23: A partial strike was observed in Karachi and Hyderabad and complete shutdown in almost all other cities and towns of Sindh on Wednesday on a call given by the Awami Tehrik in protest against Tuesday’s attack on its rally in the provincial capital and the murder of the secretary general of Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz, Muzaffar Bhutto.

Educational boards and universities postponed examinations because of the strike.

Tension gripped some localities in Karachi after gun and arson attacks that left five people dead, several others wounded and a couple of vehicles torched.

Public transport remained off the road in the morning after attacks on a passenger coach near Lea Market, a vehicle of the Pakistan Steel Mills and a private school bus in Malir. Traders and transporters kept their businesses closed in the affected areas.

Attendance was thin in government and private offices, educational institutions, courts, hospitals and banks.

A complete strike was observed in Larkana, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Sukkur, Jacobabad, Ghotki, Kandhkot-Kashmore, Mirpurkhas, Shikarpur, Mithi, Badin, Khairpur, Dadu, Nawabshah, Umerkot, Naushahro Feroze and adjoining towns.

A truck driver died in Nawabshah when his vehicle was torched on the National Highway.

Another truck was set on fire in Kotri and a number of activists were picked up in Khairpur, Thatta, Benazirabad and Jamshoro.

A large number of people attended the funeral of the victims of Tuesday’s violence in Lyari.