Wave of violence across in London (Mian Shakeel Aslam)

Mian Shakeel Aslam: A wave of violence and looting raged across London and spread to three other major British cities Tuesday, as authorities struggled to contain the country's worst unrest since race riots set the capital ablaze in the 1980s.

In London, groups of young people rampaged for a third straight night, setting buildings, vehicles and garbage dumps alight, looting stores and pelting police officers with bottles and fireworks. The spreading disorder was an unwelcome warning of the possibility of violence during London's 2012 Summer Olympics, less than a year away.

Police called in hundreds of reinforcements and made a rare decision to deploy armored vehicles in some of the worst-hit districts but still struggled to keep pace with the chaos unfolding at flashpoints across London, in the central city of Birmingham, the western city of Bristol and the northwestern city of Liverpool.

"The violence we have seen is simply inexcusable. Ordinary people have had their lives turned upside down by this mindless thuggery," police commander Christine Jones said.

The riots appeared to have little unifying cause though some involved claimed to oppose sharp government spending cuts, which will slash welfare payments and cut tens of thousands of public sector jobs through 2015.

But many appeared attracted simply by the opportunity for violence. "Come join the fun!" shouted one youth in the east London suburb of Hackney, where shops were attacked and cars torched.

The crisis will be a major test of Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative led coalition government, which includes Liberal Democrats who had long suspected its program of harsh budget restraints could provoke popular dissent. Cameron cut short his summer vacation in Italy, rushing home for a crisis meeting Tuesday. Cameron was expected to toughen the police response. Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May refused to outline what that might entail, but seemed to rule out more drastic measures.

Rioters were left virtually unchallenged in several neighborhoods and able to plunder from stores at will or attempt to invade homes. Restaurants and stores fearful of looting closed early across London.

Disorder flared throughout the night, from gritty suburbs along the capital's fringes to central London's posh Notting Hill neighborhood. London Ambulance Service treated 16 patients, of whom 15 were hospitalized. Police said 334 people had been arrested and 69 people charged with offenses.

Three people were arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of a police officer left hospitalized after being struck by a car in north London early Tuesday.

After dawn, the unrest appeared to calm, either quelled by police or after rioters drifted away.

Violence first broke out late Saturday in the low-income, multiethnic district of Tottenham in north London, where outraged protesters demonstrated against the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four who was gunned down in disputed circumstances Thursday.

A brief inquest hearing into Duggan's death will take Tuesday, though it will likely be several months before a full hearing is convened. (AP).

Posted By : Mian Shakeel Aslam

Source by : mianshakeelaslam.wordpress.com