QUETTA: Opposition parties in Balochistan on Monday staged protests and a shutter-down against last week’s suicide attack at the end of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) rally in Quetta.
Clashes erupted in Quetta when protesters attempted arson in the jurisdiction of Brewery police station. Police intervened to disperse the violent protesters. A police officer, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Brewery police station, sustained a gunshot wound to the leg and was shifted to hospital, police sources said.
Protesters also blocked several roads in Quetta, disrupting traffic and restricting public movement.
Political parties, including the Balochistan National Party (BNP), National Party, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Awami National Party (ANP), Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had jointly called for the province-wide strike.
In Kalat, BNP district president Mir Qadir Bakhsh Mengal led a protest that blocked the Quetta-Karachi National Highway at Mughal Chowk with barricades. Transport services across Kalat city and adjoining rural areas came to a halt, leaving highways deserted and markets shuttered.
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Protests and road blockades were also reported in Sanjawi and other towns, where opposition parties enforced the strike.
