QUETTA: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Balochistan police has registered an FIR against unidentified terrorists who carried out the blast in Mastung on Friday.

Eight people, including five children, were killed in the explosion, while over 30 were injured.

Meanwhile, students staged a sit-in on the Quetta-Karachi highway and refused to call off their protest until the acceptance of their demands, which included “parading the guilty before the public”. The highway remained closed to traffic till late on Saturday night.

The FIR was registered on the complaint of Abdul Fateh, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Mastung’s city police station.

Large number of people attend funeral prayers of victims; students stage sit-in on Quetta-Karachi highway

The FIR said Rafiq Shah, who heads the bomb disposal squad, inspected the scene of the explosion on Saturday, noting that “seven to eight kilograms of explosive material and ball bearing” were used.

A police team posted nearby heard a deafening boom while it was patrolling the area, the FIR said. They later learned that a blast had occurred on Masjid Road.

When the police contingent arrived at the site, it saw a large number of children there.

“Several workers riding a van which was taking a police party to a hospital for polio duty, were martyred and injured.”

The FIR invoked sections 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) and 21(I) (aid and abetment) of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, as well as sections 3 (punishment for causing explosion likely to endanger life or property) and 4 (punishment for attempt to cause explosion or for making or keeping explosives with intent to endanger life or property) of the Explosive Substances’ Act 1908.

Funeral

A large number of people attended funeral prayers for the Mastung blast victims on Saturday.

The victims were buried at a graveyard in the presence of hundreds of mourners.

Heart-wrenching scenes were witnessed during the burial of five schoolchildren, including two brothers, Safiullah and Samiullah. They were going to school with their father when the blast took place.

The grandfather of the boys, weeping uncontrollably, said: “I told my son, `let me take the children to school and don’t use rickshaw for dropping them’.”

A girl Khairun Nisa also lost her life, along with her younger brother Amir Hamza. They were riding a school van caught in the blast.

Nadeem Tareen, a manager at a local branch of United Bank Ltd, was also killed in the incident while going to work. He belonged to the family of Hashim Tareen, a footballer who represented Pakistan in international events.

Funeral prayers for Abdul Hafeez Domki, a policeman, were performed at Police Lines in Quetta.

Protesting students

Students of various schools took out processions in Mastung against the attack.

They marched on various roads carrying placards and banners inscribed with some demands.

The protesters later staged a sit-in on the Quetta-Karachi highway, causing suspension of inter-city traffic. The students chanted slogans against the government, saying it had failed to “protect citizens against terrorists”.

Officials of the local administration held negotiations with the protesters and urged them to call off the sit-in.

But they refused to do so and continued blocking the highway.

The students called upon the administration to arrest the suspects and “parade them before the public”.

They also called for payment of compensation to the families of the dead and to the injured.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2024