Several hundred demonstrators burned tyres and barricaded streets in the southern part of Karachi with oil drums and vehicles, hurling rocks at the police, who responded with tear gas. One person was killed as the police opened fire on anti-government demonstrators who stormed the streets for the fifth consecutive day. The demonstrators engaged the police in battles marked by gunfire and rock-throwing to protest against five deaths in police firing in Lahore and the arrests of hundreds of opposition leaders.

Sudanese rebels down plane

About 60 passengers and crew were feared killed when a Sudan Airways Fokker Friendship was shot down by rebels near the south Sudanese town of Malakal, the official Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) reported. It said the plane carried 57 passengers and an unknown number of crew, when it was hit during a flight from Malakal airport to Khartoum. East African aviation sources in Nairobi said the crew radioed a final plea for help at 0829 GMT, just after the plane took off.

Soviet MI-26 for Air Force

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The Indian Air Force (IAF) is going in for a military heavy-lift helicopter called MI-26 from the Soviet Union to augment its helicopter fleet, it is learnt. The MI-26, which has been code-named “Halo-7” by NATO countries, is believed to be the heaviest and most powerful helicopter in use in the world.

Housing projects on hold

The Ministry of Urban Development has received a severe jolt with most of its projects in the field of housing finance and urban improvement still pending clearance in the Finance Ministry — more than six months after their submission. The projects were submitted to the Finance Ministry after prolonged deliberations among various housing agencies amid much fanfare in the Ministry of Urban Development, which proclaimed that the implementation of the projects would bring about a revolution in the field of housing construction in the country.