KARACHI:
At least five motorcycles were set ablaze on Friday reportedly after commuters clashed with Shia community protestors near Drigh Road, Sharea Faisal in Karachi.
The countrywide protests that began three days ago, to express solidarity with families of 11 Hazara community miners in Machh, Balochistan last week, have spread to over 15 different spots in Karachi.
Road blocks put in place owing to the protests have resulted in gridlocks across the city at peak hours. However, traffic is being diverted from affected roads to alternative routes.
The Shia Ulema Council, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, Imamia Students Organisation along with other members of Shia community, have been staging sit-ins at multiple spots across Karachi, to express solidarity with the miners' families.
The sit-ins are being held at Numaish Chowrangi, Nipa Chowrangi, University Road near Safari Park, Abul Hassan Isphani Road, Kamran Chowrangi, Natha Khan Bridge, Quaidabad, Shah Faisal Colony, Power House Chowrangi, Khuda ki Basti, Nazimabad no.1 and other locations.
Long queues of traffic choked University Road, MA Jinnah Road, Sharea Faisal and the National Highway. Both tracks of Abul Hassan Isphahani Road also remained closed for traffic.
"Their [the miners' families] only demand is that Prime Minister Imran Khan visit them, condole the deaths of their beloved family members and give assurance that the perpetrators of the attack would be caught and punished at the earliest," said one of the protesters.
The protesters claimed the involvement of international organisations in the attack and maintained that such incidents would continue to take place unless action was not taken against foreign elements perpetrating such brutality.
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