KARACHI: Following the lapse of a 24-hour ultimatum on Wednesday night, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) announced to hold countrywide strikes to protest against ‘missing party workers,’ starting the first phase of protests from Senate on Thursday.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the party’s Rabita (Coordination) Committee held at Khursheed Begum Secretariat in Karachi’s Azizabad, said a press release on MQM’s official website.

The party decided to follow all legal, constitutional and democratic means of protesting against what it claimed extrajudicial killings of its workers.

“All legal, constitutional and democratic means will be adopted for the recovery of the missing party workers,” said the MQM statement.

“First protest rally will be held at the upper house of Parliament on Thursday,” it added.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan telephoned Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan and assured him that all MQM’s reservations regarding ongoing targeted operation in Karachi will be addressed soon.

The party had given a 24-hour ultimatum to the government to recover missing party workers on Tuesday.

Earlier today, MQM chief Altaf Hussain demanded President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Shareef, Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif, DG ISI Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah the recovery of MQM workers who he claimed were arrested and put in illegal detention by different government agencies.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPAs have also staged walkouts from the Sindh Assembly to protest against the arrest and torture of MQM activist Fahad Aziz, who was picked up when he was escorting home his bride from the wedding ceremony.