QUETTA, Aug 26: A complete strike was observed in Quetta and some other cities and towns of Balochistan and at least eight people were injured in a clash with police in Wadh area, on the first death anniversary of veteran Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti on Sunday.
However, the strike call given by the Jamhoori Watan Party, BNP-Mengal, National Party and other nationalist groups and student organisations received a mixed response in the interior of the province.
In Quetta and some other areas, private and government vehicles were pelted with stones.
Law-enforcement agencies arrested around 160 people.
In Quetta, markets and business establishments remained closed throughout the day. Bazaars in the city have been presenting a deserted look since Saturday evening when police ordered closure of all shops for security reasons.
Hotels, restaurants, bakeries, vegetable and fruit market and even medical stores responded to the strike call.
Public and private vehicles remained off the road and Quetta was virtually cut off from Sindh and Punjab as all terminals were closed and buses and vans did not leave for Karachi or any other city.
Activists of nationalist parties and student organisations blocked national highways near Hub and other points of entry into of Balochistan.
According to reports reaching here, the strike was observed in Gwadar, Turbat, Panjgur, Sibi, Dera Allahyar, Dera Murad Jamali, Hub, Uthal, Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar, Wadh, Kharan, Dalbandin, Nushki, Taftan, Dhadar, Mach and other Baloch areas of the province. Traffic was thin on main roads and highways.
However, the strike call was ignored in northern parts of the province, including Pishin, Chaman, Zhob, Loralai, Qila Saifullah, Qila Abdullah and some other towns.
Protest rallies were held in Dera Murad Jamali, Gwadar, Wadh and some other places. In Wadh, activists of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal took out a protest procession headed by former MPA Akbar Mengal.
Police used teargas shells to disperse the protesters who hurled stones. Eight people, including Akbar Mengal, suffered injuries during the clash and were taken to the local hospital. Some political activists were arrested after the clash.
In Quetta, a group of people broke windscreens of half a dozen vehicles, including an ambulance, in the Sariab area while another threw stones at a church in the Spiny road area during the Sunday service.
Law-enforcement personnel rushed to the place and dispersed the protesters.
Four people were arrested.
The provincial administration had beefed up security in and around Quetta and thousands of personnel of Frontier Corps and police had been deployed at important points.
The contingents of Frontier Corps and police patrolled main roads and streets in the provincial capital throughout the day and did not allow traders to open their shops in the evening.
Official sources said that 160 people had been arrested in Quetta, Nushki, Dalbandin, Wadh and other areas. No incident of serious violence was reported from any part of the province.
QUETTA, Aug 26: A complete strike was observed in Quetta and some other cities and towns of Balochistan and at least eight people were injured in a clash with police in Wadh area, on the first death anniversary of veteran Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti on Sunday.
