Shutters down: Strike against ‘kill and dump operation’

QUETTA: Commercial activity in most districts of Balochistan came to a grinding halt on Thursday after the Baloch National Front (BNF) called for a strike to protest what they allege is the ‘kill and dump operation’ against political activists in the province. The strike affected the mainly ethnic-Baloch parts of the province, and occurred a day after the mutilated bodies of five Baloch students and political activists were found in various parts of the province on Wednesday. The bodies showed signs of being tortured. Funeral prayers for three of the dead were held on Thursday in Panjgur, where they were laid to rest.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2011.