A shutter-down strike was called on Saturday in protest against the deadly suicide attack in Mastung. PHOTO: PPI
The attack – a failed life bid on Senate Deputy Chairman Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri - killed 26 people and injured 40 others on Friday.
The death toll, however, rose to 27 on Saturday after one more victim succumbed to his injuries at the Trauma Centre of Civil Hospital, Quetta.
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Protesting against the attack, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leaders and workers took to streets in Quetta and Mastung. The protesters chanted slogans against the attack while marching through the roads of the provincial capital.
Maulana Muhammad Tarabi and Malik Sikander advocate addressed the protesters. They declared attacks on religious scholars ‘unbearable’, and said “such cowardly acts cannot scare us”.
In a video statement from Quetta’s Combined Military Hospital, an injured Haideri said, “We will never deter from our ideology and will continue our movement to defend Pakistan and the people of Balochistan.”
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The massacre occurred when a suicide bomber rammed the motorcycle he was riding into Haideri’s convoy in Mastung after Friday prayers.
A First Information Report against the Mastung attack was lodged on behalf of the Station House Officer Saffar Khan in Mastung City Police Station against unknown persons under Section U/s 7ATA, 302, 324, 427, 3-4-5 of the explosives act on Saturday.
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In a related move, Commander Southern Command Lieutenant General Aamir Riaz chaired a high-level security coordination session at the Corps Headquarter, Quetta. Provincial Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti, the provincial chief secretary and senior civil and military leadership attended the huddle.
The meeting reviewed the entire security situation of the province and vowed to take strict against peace spoilers. Security challenges in the province were also discussed in the meeting.
The participants of the meeting offered Fateha for the martyrs of Mastung and Gwadar.
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