Shutter-down Strike Observed In Quetta Against Sectarian Killings

Islamabad, Sept 3 , IRNA -- A shutter-down strike was observed in the Pakistani southwestern city of Quetta against the sectarian killings in parts of Balochistan province. The strike was called by Hazara Democratic Party, chief of the Hazara tribe Sardar Saadat and Azadari Council. Different political and trade unions also backed the strike. Main markets in Quetta remained closed while traffic was thin on the roads. Special security arrangements have been done in order to avert any untoward incident. On Saturday, seven members of the Hazara community were killed in two apparently coordinated drive-by shooting incidents on the outskirts of the provincial capital. Gunmen riding on motorcycles had fired a volley of gunshots at a bus stop in the Hazar Ganji neighborhood near a vegetable market, while in a separate incident, two intending pilgrims from the Hazara community were killed, while two more were killed in another attack. Soon after the first attack, a heavy contingent of police and paramilitary Frontier Corps cordoned off the area and mounted a manhunt for the killers. The senseless killings sparked violence in some neighbourhoods of the city where members of the Hazara community took to the streets. Protesters went berserk, allegedly barged into houses and harassed residents. Another victim who was admitted to hospital in the aftermath of a firing incident that killed seven Hazaras succumbed to his injuries, taking the death toll to eight./end