Pakistani police shot dead four prisoners and wounded 13 during a riot at an overcrowded prison in the city of Karachi, police said today.
Separately, prisoners including Taliban militants took four guards hostage during a riot sparked by a search for mobile telephones and weapons at a prison in the northwest of the country, a prison official said.
Police in Karachi said the violence began late on Wednesday when prisoners attacked police in an attempt to break out through a gate. A wounded prisoner said the trouble began with a protest over harsh conditions.
"The prisoners attacked police and when they replied the prisoners went on to attack offices and burn furniture," said Mohammad Yamin Khan, Inspector General of Jails in the southern province of Sindh.
Mr Khan said there were more than 2,500 inmates in the Malir District Jail, which was built to hold 1,200.
Wounded prisoner Karim Dad said from a hospital bed that the prisoners were protesting against harsh treatment and poor conditions.
It was the second disturbance at a prison in Karachi this week. Prisoners at the city's central jail rioted over conditions on Monday.
In the northwestern town of Timergarah, prisoners took four guards hostage as police fired teargas to end a riot that began when authorities conducted a search and found mobile phones and knives.
Prisoners set fire to two prison barracks and four inmates were hurt during the teargas shelling, said the prison's deputy superintendent, Ayub Bacha.
"Some of them were infuriated by our action and then held hostage four of our staff," Mr Bacha told reporters.
A police official said Taliban militants detained during military operations in nearby Swat Valley were behind the trouble.
"There are about 50 militants and we had reports that some of them had mobile phones and they were contacting militants outside and could have been plotting a violent uprising," said the police officer, who declined to be identified.
Prison authorities had called in troops to seal off the area, the police officer said.
Reuters