News
Thursday, August 11, 2011
3 Pakistanis killed as UK riots flare up* London quiet overnight after police reinforce capital
* More than 1,100 arrested for violence, disorder and looting
* Prime Minister Cameron says ‘fightback’ under way
ISLAMABAD: Three Pakistanis, including two brothers, were killed in an accident during violence in Birmingham, Pakistan’s counselor in the city said on Wednesday.
Talking to a private news channel, Anser Khan said that a group of black people came in a car when the three Pakistanis were standing outside their properties to protect them from damage due to present wave of violence in the UK. Khan said that the British police arrested a black man involved in the killing of the Pakistanis. The counselor identified the deceased as Shehzad Hussain, Mussawer Ali and Haroon Hussain.
Meanwhile, thousands of extra police officers flooded into London on Wednesday in a bid to end Britain’s worst rioting in a generation. An eerie calm prevailed in the capital, but unrest spread across England on a fourth night of violence driven by diverse and brazen crowds of young people. Scenes of ransacked stores, torched cars and blackened buildings frightened and outraged Britons just a year before their country is to host next summer’s Olympic Games, bringing demands for a tougher response from law enforcement.
Police across the country have made more than 1,100 arrests since the violence broke out over the weekend. In London, where armored vehicles and convoys of police vans patrolled the streets, authorities said there would be 16,000 officers on duty — almost triple the number present Monday. They said a large presence would remain in the city through the next 24 hours at least. The show of force seems to have worked.
“Without wishing to speak too soon it’s been reasonably quiet for us so far tonight,” London’s Fire Brigade said in a message posted to Twitter earlier in the evening. “Let’s hope it stays that way.” But outside the capital, chaos was spreading. In the northwestern city of Manchester, hundreds of youths — some looking as young as 10 — rampaged through the city centre, hurling bottles and stones at police and vandalising stores. A women’s clothing store on the city’s main shopping street was set ablaze, along with a disused library in nearby Salford.
Manchester’s assistant chief constable Garry Shewan said looting and arson had taken place there on an unprecedented scale. “We want to make it absolutely clear — they have nothing to protest against,” he said. “There is nothing in a sense of injustice and there has been no spark that has led to this.”
Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday “a fightback is under way” to restore law and order to Britain’s streets despite rioting, looting and arson by gangs of youths spreading from London to other cities. Youths fought running battles with police in the northern cities of Manchester and Liverpool as well as in the Midlands overnight Tuesday.
They smashed shop windows, carted off televisions and designer clothes, and torched buildings as police armed with shields and batons struggled to contain the disturbances. A boosted police presence meant London itself was relatively quiet after three days of violent unrest. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk