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KARACHI, Pakistan — Government supporters and opponents turned entire neighbourhoods of Pakistan's largest city into battlegrounds Saturday, leaving at least 27 people dead in the worst political violence since President Gen. Pervez Musharraf suspended the chief justice.

Even before political rallies had begun, street battles throughout the sprawling city killed and injured scores, as gunmen traded assault rifle fire in a residential area of bungalows and concrete apartment blocks just a kilometre from Karachi's international airport. A private TV network came under fire, but stayed on air as rioters torched vehicles outside.

The fighting broke out as Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry arrived for what organizers hoped would be the largest in two months of rallies by lawyers and opposition parties protesting his ouster. Pro-government parties were responding with their own shows of strength.

Hospital officials and a senior security official told The Associated Press that 27 people had died in the violence and more than 100 were injured.

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