MQM leader�s murder triggers violence in Pakistan

At least 43 people were killed and 72 others were injured as extensive violence broke out overnight due to the killing of a provincial lawmaker in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi Tuesday, police said.

Syed Raza Haider, a leader of the MQM party, was shot at a mosque, on Monday evening where he was attending the funeral of a relative, according to Rafiq Gul, Karachi's deputy superintendent of police. The politician's bodyguard was also killed by the gunman.

Gul said the Haider's death set off political and ethnic violence in the city, as mobs set fire to vehicles and gunfire erupted.

Gul said 48 vehicles, 8 shops and several gas stations were set on fire in the mayhem.

The MQM is part of the ruling coalition supporting President Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan People's Party.