Security official stand alert to avoid any untoward incident as violence erupts in city after incidents of target-killings in Quetta.            —(Arsalan Naseer/PPI Images).

QUETTA: Life came to a standstill as a wheel-jam and shutter down strike continues in the city on the call given by the Hazara Democratic Party and the Balochistan Shia conference over the killing of 9 members of the Shia Hazara community in the city on Saturday, DawnNews reported.

Shops and markets were shut all across the city and traffic vanished from the roads as the city wore a deserted look.

The call for strike was supported by various other parties in the province who also demanded for Governor’s rule to be imposed over the province.

Provincial Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi ordered an immediate crack-down against terrorists.

The Chief Minister of Balochistan Nawab Aslab Raisani called for a high level meeting regarding the law and order situation of the province which would be attended by both shia and sunni clerics.

Lawlessness and target killings have become a routine in Quetta due to which businesses in the provincial capital are suffering from stagnation as the day to day deteriorating law and order situation and strikes are causing losses worth millions of rupees

Security is essential for trade and businesses to flourish but it remains only a dream for the residents of Balochistan especially in its provincial capital city of Quetta.

Though people from all walks of life are affected by the strikes but it’s the daily wage earners who suffer the most. Daily producers of perishable items usually have to suffer more losses as their products are not sold due to untimely closure of business in the largest but least developed province of the country.