A day of mayhem: PIA employees fall in clash with authorities

Published February 2, 2016
PIA Employees chant slogans as they march towards the Jinnah International Airport. ─ Reuters
PIA Employees chant slogans as they march towards the Jinnah International Airport. ─ Reuters
A volunteer transports injured employees of PIA during a protest near Jinnah International Airport. ─AFP
A volunteer transports injured employees of PIA during a protest near Jinnah International Airport. ─AFP
PIA employees march during a protest in Karachi. ─AFP
PIA employees march during a protest in Karachi. ─AFP
A paramilitary soldier charges with a wooden baton on PIA employees. ─AFP
A paramilitary soldier charges with a wooden baton on PIA employees. ─AFP
Paramilitary soldiers baton charge on employees of PIA. ─AFP
Paramilitary soldiers baton charge on employees of PIA. ─AFP
PIA employees shout slogans as police use a water cannon on them during a protest near the airport in Karachi.  ─AFP
PIA employees shout slogans as police use a water cannon on them during a protest near the airport in Karachi. ─AFP
PIA employees scuffle with paramilitary soldiers during a protest near Karachi International Airport.
PIA employees scuffle with paramilitary soldiers during a protest near Karachi International Airport.
Protesting PIA employees gather around injured colleagues who were hit by bullets. ─AFP
Protesting PIA employees gather around injured colleagues who were hit by bullets. ─AFP
Saleem Akbar (L) and Inayat Raza (R), the two PIA employees who lost their lives during the protest. ─ Photo courtesy: Twitter
Saleem Akbar (L) and Inayat Raza (R), the two PIA employees who lost their lives during the protest. ─ Photo courtesy: Twitter
MQM leader Rehan Hashmi and JI leader Hafiz Naeem attending Inayat Raza's funeral. ─Photo courtesy: Rehan Hashmi/Twitter
MQM leader Rehan Hashmi and JI leader Hafiz Naeem attending Inayat Raza's funeral. ─Photo courtesy: Rehan Hashmi/Twitter

Security personnel on Tuesday clashed with marchers protesting government plans to privatise the ailing national airline, a skirmish that a hospital official said killed at least two protesters and injured eight.

Protesters said paramilitary forces fired after a confrontation as security forces tried to block the strikers nearing the airport in Karachi.

But a spokesman for the paramilitary Rangers force and a senior police officer denied that any of their members had fired.

The violence came as hundreds of airline employees held the latest of a months-long series of protests against the plans to privatise Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

Police used water cannons and teargas to keep the crowd from approaching the city's Jinnah International Airport before shots were fired.

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