At least four persons were killed and nine others, including a policeman, were injured in fresh incidents of violence in Pakistan's port city of Karachi Sunday.

Paramilitary rangers were deployed in the city with orders to shoot any law violators, the private NNI news agency reported.

The city saw the most serious clashes between the supporters of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and their rivals in years when the suspended chief justice arrived in the city to address lawyers.

Around 40 people have been killed and more than 150 others injured since the violence erupted in Karachi Saturday.

Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah said that the rangers have been given powers to fire at miscreants.

The ethnic Pashtoon-dominated areas remained the center of violence Sunday.

A dead body was found from the Quaid Abad locality, who was hit at the head. Two motorcycles were also burnt in the Abad area.

Unidentified men burnt several shops in the Water Pump area, where all shops are owned by Pashtoons. Police emergency centers were also attacked.

A man was shot dead in Banaras Chowk and a body of unidentified man was found in Naval Colony.

Rival groups buried some of their activists Sunday.

All bazaars and many petrol stations were closed and traffic was thin in the city.

Musharraf suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in March, but the latter has since emerged as a symbol of anti-Musharraf movement.

Opposition groups blamed the pro-Musharraf MQM party for orchestrating the unrest, but it denied the claim.

Opposition groups have called for a strike on Monday in protest against the killings of their activists.