QUETTA: Nine more people were gunned down in three separate incidents of sectarian target killing here on Saturday, the fourth such incident in Quetta this week.
The fresh incident at Brewery Road comes a day after Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi’s remarks that if peace was not restored in Quetta the Army might take over which could further complicate the situation.
Police said that six people, who belonged to the Hazara community, were on their way to Marriabad from Hazara town in a yellow cab when it was ambushed by unidentified armed men in the Killi Ibrahimzai area at Brewery Road. The armed men sprayed bullets with lethal automatic weapons targeting the passengers of the yellow cab. All the six people in the vehicle died on the spot.
Reports suggested that the assailants had taken positions on Killi Ibrahimzai’s main road. The attackers opened fire on the vehicle as it approached them at around 9:15am. The attack was so sudden and intense that the victims could not resist and died immediately. The attackers fled from the scene on a motorcycle leaving behind the deceased in a pool of blood.
The bodies of the deceased were take to the Bolan Medical Complex hospital in private vehicles. Soon after the incident, a large number of people belonging to the Hazara community thronged to the hospital where they strongly protested against the target killing incident.
On being informed, the police and Frontier Corps (FC) personnel reached the spot and started a probe into the matter.
The Balochistan government also called in 10 platoons of the FC to maintain law and order in different areas of Quetta and to deal with any untoward occurrence.
The incident of target killing created tension in the provincial capital and people belonging to the Hazara community, including political activists and students, blocked the Brewery Road and protested against the killings. They burnt tyres and demanded of the government to step down as it has failed to provide security to the citizens.
– Agencies
