— File Photo by AFP

QUETTA: Members of the Hazara community and relatives of Kirani road suicide blast victims buried all dead bodies amid tears and sorrows in Hazara Town graveyard Quetta.

"All dead bodies have been buried", Syed Dawood Agha, the President Balochistan Shia Conference said. Emotional movements were witnessed during the burial as the relatives broke into tears while burying their loved ones.

Hazara community staged four days tiresome sit-in in protest over killings in a suicide blast on February 16 in Kirani road area of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. Women and children spent chilly nights in open sky to mourn the killings and force the authorities to launch targeted operation in Quetta. Thousands of ethnic Hazaras participated in mass funeral marred by violent protest and aerial firing.

Angry mob pelted stones and opened fire at the vehicle of Deputy Commissioner (DC) Quetta, Mansoor Kakar. "The DC narrowly escaped the firing", Fayyaz Sumbal, the Deputy Inspector General Police Quetta said.

Frontier Corps and police personnel quickly retaliated and their aerial firing dispersed the enraged protesters.

Meanwhile, most of the sit-ins staged in major cities of the country in solidarity with the victims were called off.

All vehicular routes, which were blocked due to security reasons during the protests, were opened for traffic on Wednesday.

Similarly suspended airport routes and railway traffic also resumed in Karachi and other cities.

Despite formal announcement by Shia leaders to call off sit-in, some highly charged youngsters from Hazara community were still staging sit-in on Bypass area, the outskirt of Quetta.

"We would not end protest until  our demands are met", Muhammad Ali Hazara, one of the protesters told Dawn.com He said family members of  the Kirani road victims were not taken into confidence during negotiations with government.

More FC and police personnel were sent into the area to maintain the order in the aftermath of aerial firing.

Earlier on Tuesday leaders of Shia organisations and the Hazara community, announced at a late-night press conference, that relatives of the people who had died in Saturday’s terrorist attack had agreed to start burying their dead at 9 on Wednesday morning and end their sit-in.

Opinion

Editorial

X post facto
Updated 19 Apr, 2024

X post facto

Our decision-makers should realise the harm they are causing.
Insufficient inquiry
19 Apr, 2024

Insufficient inquiry

UNLESS the state is honest about the mistakes its functionaries have made, we will be doomed to repeat our follies....
Melting glaciers
19 Apr, 2024

Melting glaciers

AFTER several rain-related deaths in KP in recent days, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority has sprung into...
IMF’s projections
Updated 18 Apr, 2024

IMF’s projections

The problems are well-known and the country is aware of what is needed to stabilise the economy; the challenge is follow-through and implementation.
Hepatitis crisis
18 Apr, 2024

Hepatitis crisis

THE sheer scale of the crisis is staggering. A new WHO report flags Pakistan as the country with the highest number...
Never-ending suffering
18 Apr, 2024

Never-ending suffering

OVER the weekend, the world witnessed an intense spectacle when Iran launched its drone-and-missile barrage against...