QUETTA, Aug 28: A complete strike on Monday paralysed Quetta and other cities and towns of Balochistan and reports of more incidents of rioting and arson were received from different parts of the province.

The strike in protest against the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti was observed on a call given on Sunday by an alliance of four nationalist parties.

At least two people were killed and 10 others injured in different areas of the province.

More government buildings were attacked and damaged.

Police and other law-enforcement agencies arrested over 200 people from Quetta and elsewhere for damaging and attacking government and private property. Five leaders of the National Party, including Senator Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, MPAs Rehmat Baloch and Mir Jan Mohammad Buledi were also arrested in Quetta. However, they were allowed to go home three hours later.

Gas and power supply to Kalat was suspended late on Monday night after a gas pipeline and a power transmission tower were blown up.

Meanwhile, armed people hurled a hand-grenade into the house of one Jamshad in the Manojan Road area, injuring his younger brother Nazir.

A shop was damaged after a bomb exploded in the Brewery Road area.

Quetta and other cities and towns remained cut off from other parts of the country for the second day as protesters blocked all highways linking the province with Sindh, Punjab and the NWFP. However, the train service and flights to Quetta were restored.

All shopping centres and business establishments remained closed in Quetta.

All public and private vehicles remained off the road. The inter-city traffic also remained suspended throughout the day.

The towns affected by the strike included Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar, Sibi, Hub, Dera Murad Jamali, Usta Mohammad, Dera Allahyar, Barkhan, Mach and Dhadar. Protest rallies and meetings were held in these areas.

In Quetta, a large number of protesters gathered on the Sariab Road in the morning. They stormed the Government Degree College and Polytechnic Institute and ransacked and set on fire furniture, computers and other equipment after throwing them on the road. Mobs also torched several buses of both the educational institutions. Some people smashed streetlights and blocked the Sariab Road, stopping police vehicles.

Another mob ransacked the UNDP’s office near the Balochistan University and set its vehicles on fire. Offices of the provincial irrigation department, Wapda, grid station office and many other government offices were also torched.

A group of protesters stormed the regional income tax office and destroyed the record and burnt nine motorcycles and vehicles parked nearby.

In Nushki, armed people opened fire and killed a barber, identified as Tauqeer Ahmed.

In Gwadar, a hotel, two banks, a private hospital and at least a dozen shops in the main bazaar were torched.

A group of youths also tried to attack the Radio Pakistan Building in Gwadar but they were dispersed.

In Pasni, a mob set on fire a market owned by the provincial finance minister, an airline booking office and a telephone exchange. Law-enforcement personnel used tear-gas and fired in the air to disperse the mob.

At least nine people were injured in clashes with police.

In Sibi, district president of the Jamhoori Watan Party Dr Azim Bashir was taken into custody along with 50 political activists while district president of the National Party Dr Balach and a Wapda employee were detained in Pasni.

A man, Shaukat, was killed by armed persons in the Kanak area of Mastung while Qari Abdul Hameed was injured in Turbat.

In Wadh, a mob torched the post office and attacked a police station. The office of the ruling PML was set on fire in Nal.