PAKISTAN:Pakistan celebrated its 60th anniversary of independence from Britain yesterday, but gunfire during boisterous celebrations left two women dead and 19 people injured.
President Pervez Musharraf and prime minister Shaukat Aziz, in speeches and appearances celebrating the milestone, praised Pakistan's emergence as a Muslim nation with an important international role, but warned its people not to succumb to extremism.
They renewed vows not to let any nation violate Pakistan's sovereignty - comments apparently directed at the US rather than long-time rival India - and Mr Aziz said becoming the world's first nuclear-armed Muslim country remained a point of national pride.
In the capital Islamabad, 31 artillery guns fired at daybreak, marking the start of ceremonies.
In Karachi, the country's largest city, military cadets ceremonially changed the guard at the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's founder.
Overnight, cheering revellers poured on to the streets in the otherwise staid capital in cars or motorcycles festooned with Pakistani flags. Fireworks crackled into the night, despite driving monsoon rains.