Sectarian strife: Three Hazaras gunned down in Quetta

The two attacks occurred within a span of five minutes.

QUETTA:

At least three members of the Hazara community were gunned down on Saturday, while two others sustained injuries, in two separate sectarian attacks in Quetta.

Four Hazaras were returning home from Meezan Chowk in a yellow cab when unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on the vehicle, City Police Station SHO Ahmed Shah told The Express Tribune.

Two of them died on the spot, while the other two sustained injuries. The bodies were shifted to Civil Hospital, while the injured were taken to the Combined Military Hospital for further treatment.

The deceased were identified as Ali Gul and Mirza Hussain.

The attack bore uncanny resemblance to another firing incident which took place earlier in the week. On Tuesday, three Hazaras were killed in a similar fashion when gunmen sprayed the yellow cab they were travelling in with bullets.

In another targeted attack on Saturday, a Hazara was shot down on the main Zarghoon Road, one of the busiest commercial areas of the provincial capital.

According to the police, the man was sitting inside a shop when gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on him. He died on the spot and his body was shifted to Civil Hospital for autopsy. He was identified as Mohammad Musa.

Interestingly, both attacks took place within a span of five minutes. While the police and other law enforcement agencies said they had reached the scene of the first crime immediately and cordoned off the area, security forces were unable to prevent the second attack, which took place in another part of the city.

A spokesperson of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) Abu Bakar Siddiq contacted The Express Tribune to claim responsibility for both attacks. LeJ has also been involved in previous attacks on the Hazara community.

The Hazara Democratic Party, Tahafuz-e-Azadari Council and Majlis-e-Wahadat-e-Muslimeen all issued statements condemning the killings. Angry protesters from the Hazara community blocked roads by burning tyres near Meezan Chowk, Liaquat Bazaar, Alamdar Road and Jinnah Road.

They chanted slogans against the government for failing to protect the lives of law abiding citizens.

The government is staunchly defending its mandate of assessing the efficacy of its provincial counterparts in the Supreme Court, which maintains the government of Balochistan has “failed”. Sectarian violence, however, has shown no sign of letting up in the restive province.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2012.