At least 14 persons were killed including 10 in in Karachi as rioting broke out on Thursday night in several parts of Pakistan following the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Television channels reported 10 deaths in different parts of Karachi in incidents of firing, looting and setting vehicles, shops and petrol pumps on fire by enraged activists mourning the death of Bhutto.

Police officials said they had reports of people killed in violence but could not confirm the exact figures but said over 100 vehicles had been torched while miscreants had also set dozens of petrols pumps and shops on fire in various parts of the city.

Miscreants also attacked and set on fire police stations in Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Malir Goth.

Two people were killed in Lahore [Images] where shops, buses and cars were set on fire, a police officer said. Sporadic gunfire could also be heard echoing around the city.

Two other people were shot dead in the southern province of Sindh. A clash between police and protesters in the town of Tando Allahyar left one protester dead, local mayor Kanwar Naveed Jamil said.

Another man was shot dead in Khairpur district, police said.

"Armed men are roaming around on the road and setting vehicles on fire. They have fired upon some shops to force them to pull down their shutters," a scared resident in Karachi's populated Gulshan-e-Iqbal area said.

Eye witnesses said armed activists had stopped cars and set them on fire in different parts of the city after manhandling the occupants. One reporter was beaten up in the upmarket area of Clifton, home to Bhutto's Bilawal house and her family residence.

The interior ministry declared a red alert in the country after Bhutto's assassination with para-military troops being deployed to maintain law and order.

The police used tear gas and batons to break up an angry demonstration in Peshawar after more than 100 angry Bhutto supporters blocked the main trunk road in the northwestern city. Billboards and posters of the main party behind president Pervez Musharraf [Images], a Bhutto rival, were torched.

They shouted slogans including 'Musharraf is a dog' and 'Long live Bhutto'.

Furious protesters took to the streets in groups, some of them opening fire in the air and screaming. One local police station was pelted with stones, as were some private vehicles, an eyewitness said. Demonstrators were also seen ripping down campaign posters of rival candidates.

There were also protests in the central city of Multan, where around 100 people from Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party burnt tyres in the streets and blocked traffic.

Residents said the police had stepped up patrols. Local traders announced a three-day period of mourning when shops and markets would be shut.

Shops were also closed in Karachi, Bhutto's home city. Protesters burnt tyres and blocked major roads, triggering a massive traffic jam in some places