KARACHI, Pakistan (AP):

Thousands of police and paramilitary troops patrolled Pakistan's largest city yesterday after a clash between rival lawyers left at least eight people dead.

City police chief Niaz Siddiqi said tens of thousands of police and paramilitary rangers were deployed to bolster security in Karachi, which was peaceful early yesterday.

Police arrested three armed men in connection with the unrest late Wednesday, he said.

Rashid Rizvi, a senior attorney, said lawyers planned to boycott court proceedings in Sindh province to protest the violence. Karachi is the capital of Sindh.

Most serious unrest

The unrest was the most serious to buffet the new Pakistani government as it prepared to assail the powers of President Pervez Musharraf.

The violence began when lawyers affiliated with the Mutahida Qaumi Movement, an ethnic-based political party that was part of the previous government, held a demonstration Wednesday afternoon outside Karachi's main courts complex. They were protesting an assault on a former Cabinet minister the previous day.

Police and witnesses said other lawyers leaving a Bar association meeting got involved in a scuffle with the protesters. About eight people were injured.

Minutes later, men in civilian clothes arrived and began shooting, looting and torching cars, witnesses said.