QUETTA: The bodies of young police cadets who lost their lives in Sunday’s shocking terrorist attack on a police academy in the city were sent to the native towns of the victims in different areas of Balochistan on Tuesday after their funeral prayer was offered here.

The roads and streets of Quetta, already in the grip of trauma caused by last August’s suicide attack on the city’s Civil Hospital that killed more than 70 people, wore a deserted look. Most of the shops, bazaars, shopping plazas and business centres remained closed throughout the day.

The funeral prayer of Captain Roohullah and Subedar Mohammad Ali, who were killed while fighting militants at the Police Training Centre, was separately held. It was attended by the army chief, the chief minister and others.

Official sources said that 20 of the bodies were sent to Turbat and 10 to Gwadar in a C-130 military plane and three helicopters. Police sources said that 74 injured cadets belonged to Turbat district.

Five bodies of the cadets were sent to Chaman and the remaining to Loralai, Panjgur, Dera Bugti, Harnai and other towns of Balochistan through ambulances and private vans.

Faiz Muhammad adds from Charsadda: The funeral prayer ofCaptain Roohullah of the Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group (SSG) was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard in the Ocha Walla area in Shabqadar tehsil with full military honours.

The funeral was attended by a large number of people, including military officials, relatives, friends and residents of the area. An army squad presented a guard of honour to the fallen soldier.

Family members of Capt Roohullah said that only 15 days ago he had expressed the desire to embrace martyrdom while talking to his mother during a visit to the village.

The family was making preparations for his marriage which was scheduled after a month.

Moving scenes were witnessed during the last rites of Capt Roohullah.

Capt Roohullah was born in 1989 in Shabqadar and passed his secondary school examination from the Islamia Collegiate School in Pesha­war. After passing his intermediate examination in 2008 from the Hayatabad Degree College, he joined the army.

Initially he was deputed in Waziristan for two years and, after completing his SSG training, he was posted at the Prime Minister Secretariat as a security officer.

He was the commander of the anti-terrorist operations during the attack on the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda early this year and the assault on the Christian Colony in Warsak a few weeks ago. He was posted in Quetta a month ago.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2016