Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Pakistan

Pakistan: 16 killed on second day of strike in Balochistan

QUETTA: At least 16 people were killed and nine others injured in different incidents of shooting in Balochistan as violence intensified in the province in anger over the murder of three Baloch nationalist leaders.

The bodies of Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, Lala Munir and Sher Mohammad Baloch, were found in Turbat on Wednesday night.

A strike was called by the Balochistan National Party-Mengal, Baloch National Front and Baloch Students Organisation. They urged people and transporters to observe a complete wheel-jam strike on Sunday to express solidarity with the families of the Baloch leaders.

On Saturday, six bullet-riddled bodies were found near a coal mine between Margat and Marwarn.

'Their hands were tied behind their back and bullets were pumped into their heads from a close range,' DIG Wazir Khan Nasar said, adding that they worked for coal factories in the area and were kidnapped at gunpoint.

The six workers were identified as Ghulam Jilani, Khalid Mehmood, Mohammad Yousuf, Karamat Ali, Khanzada and Munir Salik. Four of them hailed from Azad Kashmir and one each from Punjab and the NWFP.

The bodies were sent to their native places for burial. The Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the killing. Four policemen were killed and several others injured in a late night attack on a police camp in Jaffarabad.

Another six people, a journalist among them, were shot dead. Four of the deaths took place in Quetta alone. The other two died in Khuzdar and Dalbandin.

Gunmen fired on a group of people who were making arrangements for a wedding party in Jinnah town. A man, identified as Talib Sheikh, was killed on the spot while two others, including a 10-year-old girl, were injured.

The injured were taken to the civil hospital. Doctors said they were critical as bullets had pierced their heads.

Javed, a constable of the Balochistan Constabulary, was shot dead on Quetta's Jail Road, a hairdresser on Sarki road and an unknown man on Kirani road.

Mohammad Rahim, a police constable who was injured in a bomb blast in Khuzdar, died in hospital on Saturday. 'These are target killings,' a senior police official said.

A man, identified as Amir Hamza, was shot dead and another injured in Dalbandin. Three people were injured when gunmen fired on them in Nokundi.

Two people, including journalist Mohammad Wasi, were injured in Khuzdar firing. Demonstrations and rallies were held in various parts of the province.

All business centres and educational institutions remained closed in Quetta, Nushki, Chagai, Dalbandin, Taftan, Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar, Kharan, Waushak, Panjgur, Pasni, Turbat, Hub, Mach, Dhadar, Sibi, Bhag, Dera Murad Jamali and Dera Allahyar.

Lawyers boycotted court proceedings in Quetta and other district headquarters. A number of government offices, banks, vehicles and fire tenders were set on fire in Turbat, Panjgur, Gwadar, Hub, Noshki, Tump, Buleda, Dalbandin and other areas.

A complete shutter-down strike was observed in most parts of central and southern Balochistan. A district assembly hall, a bank, a museum and a PML-Q's office were set ablaze in Turbat.

In Panjgur, government offices were attacked, a PTV booster was damaged and two fire tenders were set ablaze.

A mob set on fire an under-construction building of district jail in Noshki. Rockets were fired at security checkposts in Kalat and Loti of Dera Bugti district.

A 15-year-old boy, identified as Mohammad Faizan, was injured in a grenade attack at a house in Mach town.

A bomb went off in the Marri Bazaar in Kohlu. Window panes of a hotel and nearby shops and buildings were smashed in the blast. The Frontier Corps foiled an attempt by miscreants to blow up a school building in Wadh.

However, Makran Commissioner Ejaz Buzdar claimed that no violence took place in Turbat, Gwadar and Panjgur, saying the situation was under control.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F has extended support to the call for a wheel-jam strike on Sunday and urged its workers to make the protest successful.

Speaking at a press conference, JUI-F leader and senior provincial minister Maulana Wasay said it was premature to say that intelligence agencies were behind the killing of the Baloch leaders.

'We should wait for an inquiry report by the judicial commission,' he said, adding that foreign elements were out to defame the Army, ISI and other security agencies.

Former bar leader Baz Mohammad Kakar urged Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to take suo motu notice of the Turbat killings.

He said at a press conference that in response to a call by SCBA president Ali Ahmed Kurd, lawyers would boycott court proceedings throughout the country on Monday.

Disclaimer

DAWN Group of Newspapers
© The DAWN Group of Newspapers