Political clashes that began Saturday have left 49 people dead in the southern port city of Karachi, as a general strike took hold across Pakistan in protest over the suspension of the country's chief justice.
Foreign ministers from Islamic nations were to gather in Pakistan's capital on Tuesday to discuss ways of combating alleged "Islamophobia", officials said.
Strikes called by opposition parties brought Karachi and other cities to a standstill Monday as gunmen killed a top court official in continued violence over the suspension of Pakistan's top judge.
KABUL, Afghanistan, May 14 An American soldier was shot dead and four other Americans were wounded in Pakistan today after a meeting among Afghan, Pakistani and NATO officials at the Afghan-Pakistan border Afghan and NATO officials said. The meeting had been called to try to resolve recent clashes between the two neighboring countries.
Storefronts were shuttered and the streets of Pakistan's commercial hub emptied of cars on Monday as residents angry over a weekend of deadly political violence honored a general strike called amid growing discontent over President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's ouster of the chief justice.
A gunfight broke out at meeting involving U.S., Afghan and Pakistani soldiers in Pakistan on Monday, and a number of soldiers were killed and wounded, officials said.
Militants opened fire Monday on a convoy near the Afghan frontier, wounding at least three U.S. soldiers and three Pakistani soldiers after a meeting of military officials to discuss a recent skirmish between Pakistani and Afghan forces, the Pakistan army spokesman said.
Shops were closed and public transport off the streets of Karachi on Monday after nearly 40 people were killed and about 150 wounded in Pakistan's worst political street violence in two decades.
Militants opened fire Monday on a convoy, killing a U.S. and a Pakistani soldier and wounding several others near the Afghan frontier, the Pakistan army spokesman said.
Guns fell silent on the Afghan-Pakistan border on Monday following a clash between the two uneasy neighbors a day earlier, officials from both sides said.