October 14, 2001	Sunday	Rajab 26, 1422

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HUB, Oct 13: A complete shutterdown strike was observed here on Friday on the call of the defence council for Afghanistan (DCA) and other religious groups to protest against the US-led attacks on Afghanistan, and the Pakistan’s military regime for supporting the allied forces.

No violent incident was reported from any part of the town. Heavy contingents of law enforcement agencies were deployed at all important places, including the Seerat Chowk, Jamia Masjid, Main RCD Highway, to avert any untoward incident.

Business activities remained suspended, as all the shopping centres and markets, medical stores, petrol pumps, hotels and small shops were closed.

Traffic on the RCD Highway was very thin, as motorists and transporters kept their vehicles off the highway throughout the day. The traffic came to a complete halt for over two hours when the protesters took out a procession on the highway.

Attendance at schools and government offices remained very low. In most of the schools, students had been told on Thursday not to come to their schools.

The unavailability of public transport caused great hardships for the town people, specially for those who go to Karachi to work for the Lasbela Industrial Estate Development Authority units and the ship-breaking yard at Gadani. Industrial activities at the LIEDA units suffered a great deal and in most of the units works were fully suspended resulting in loss of millions of rupees.