'No talks with those who desecrate Pakistani flag'

Malik says that the government will not hold talks with those who desecrate the flag and engage in extremism.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Thursday said that the government will not hold talks with those Baloch who desecrate the flag of Pakistan and engage in extremism.

Earlier in the day, Senior Balochistan Minister Abdul Waseh had urged all political parties to play their due role in normalising the situation in the province.

Addressing the Balochistan Assembly, Waseh condemned the bomb attack on the Balochistan governor's convoy, and said the incident itself spoke volumes of the deterioration security situation.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) members staged a walk-out because the Deputy Speaker did not allow the party’s parliamentary leader to condemn the attack.

Separately, PPP member Ali Madad Jattak walked out from the session in protest against the killing of five people in Turbat.

Strikes in the province

A shutter-down strike is underway in many parts of Balochistan in protest of the Turbat incident.

Nationalist parties such as the National Front and Balochistan National Party (BNP) had called the strike.

Commercial activity in Noshki, Kalat, Mastung, Hub, Awaran, Mashkay, Jivani, Panjgur and other areas has been brought to a stand-still.

Meanwhile security forces are on high alert to keep the districts under control.