Two bombs exploded in Karachi on Thursday, rocking the restive port city for a second day. The latest blasts killed a 12-year-old boy and wounded six other members of his family as a strike shut most markets and businesses in Karachi, police said.
No one claimed responsibility for the explosions, which police described was aimed at creating terror in the city where the ethnic based Muttahida Qami Movement, or the United National Movement, had called a one-day strike on Thursday to protest the killings of its two prominent members last week. The blasts apparently were unrelated to President Musharraf's landslide victory in a disputed referendum, which assured him of five more years as president.

But the explosions underlined the challenges facing Musharraf as he tries to curb violence and extremism.

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At least 18 people were wounded on Wednesday, some of them critically, as two bombs went off within 10 minutes of each other in a different section of the city, police said. The first bomb on Thursday exploded about 2.30 am in the low income Lines Area neighbourhood. The boy who was killed and his family were Afghans, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ali Raza said.



The bomb was placed outside their home while they were asleep, he said. There were no immediate details about the type of the bomb used.
The second bomb exploded about two hours later in a market of the affluent Defence Housing Authority neighbourhood, damaging two cars and several shops.
Bureau Report