Islamabad, Feb 12 (IANS): Three people were killed and seven others injured in a clash between two political rival parties in Pakistan's southern Sindh province, officials said.

The armed clash happened in the Larkana district, between the workers of the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), on Sunday, official sources told Xinhua news agency.

The heated debate between the rivals went ugly and a gunfire started in which the workers of both parties and the policemen who were deployed on their security were killed and injured, Xinhua news agency reported.

The local police reached the spot to control the situation in which the three persons, including an assistant sub-inspector of police, were killed, the sources added.

The protestors dispersed after the intervention of the police and the situation is under control in the area, the sources said.

The injured, including a police officer, have been shifted to a nearby hospital where two of them are in critical condition.