Pakistan: Protests Continue in Quetta Over Ziarat Attack and Recent Security Incidents
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QUETTA (Terror Monitor) — Protests over recent security incidents in Pakistan’s Balochistan province continued in Quetta, with a new sit-in launched at Koila Phatak after an earlier protest on Airport Road against militant attacks.
The Koila Phatak sit-in is being held against the killing of police personnel deployed at the Mangai Dam Phase-III construction site in Ziarat district.
Last Monday, unidentified armed attackers targeted a police checkpoint in the area, killing nine police personnel, including two Station House Officers (SHOs), and abducting 21 others. Authorities later said the abducted personnel were killed and their bodies were recovered from the Zarghoon Ghar area.
The bodies of the slain police personnel were shifted to Quetta last night. After post-mortem examinations, 13 bodies were sent to their native areas for burial, while the protest continued at Koila Phatak with eight bodies.
Protest committee member Abdul Fayyaz said the sit-in would continue until authorized government representatives arrive for negotiations. He demanded that peace be restored in Ziarat, those responsible for the attack be identified, and action be taken against officials accused of negligence.
Meanwhile, another protest has been ongoing at Koila Phatak since Sunday over the attack in Babri area of Hanna Urak, on the outskirts of Quetta. Protesters said five local residents were killed and 11 people were abducted in the attack.
Farhan Khan Yousafzai, a member of the protest committee, said they would continue their sit-in until their demands are addressed. Their main demands include eliminating unidentified armed groups from the area, the immediate recovery of the 11 abducted people, and compensation for the families of victims.
Following the incidents in Hanna Urak and Ziarat, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir, and other senior officials visited Quetta on Thursday. They attended a meeting of the Balochistan Apex Committee, where they were briefed on the province’s overall security situation.
The banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the Ziarat attack, claiming that it seized a police vehicle and dozens of government weapons during the assault.
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