In solidarity with Hazara mourners

As protests over Machh killings continued for the fourth day in Karachi, at least six motorcycles were set ablaze on Friday morning after commuters clashed with protesters staging a sit-in near Natha Khan Bridge.

The commuters and the protesters came to blows over the closure of roads. However, the protesters later cleared the way for the commuters, but some unidentified men had set motorcycles parked at the site on fire by then. Meanwhile, the police reached the spot and the flow of traffic was temporarily restored until the protesters blocked the road again. The killings of 11 miners of the Hazara community in Machh, Balochistan have sparked outrage and protests across the country. In Karachi alone, sit-ins were staged at over 20 locations on Friday.

The Shia Ulema Council, Majlis Wahdate-Muslimeen, Imamia Students Organisation and others staged sit-ins at multiple spots across the metropolis in solidarity with the miners’ families. Road blocks put in place amid the protests have resulted in gridlocks across the city at peak hours. However, traffic is being diverted from affected roads to alternative routes. Meanwhile, across Sindh thousands of men, women and children spent the chilling winter night on roads and highways, demanding justice for victims of targetted attack. Highways and roads remained blocked in Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Thatta, Badin, Mirpurkhad, Dadu , Nawabshah, Khairpur, Shikarpur, Sukkur, Ghotki and other districts. The movement of inter provincial traffic also remained suspended. The closure of roads has also affected the movement of container trucks and trailer trucks to the port.