QUETTA: A strike was observed in the provincial capital and several other cities and towns of the province on Sunday in protest against the killing of provincial information secretary of the Awami National Party (ANP) Asad Khan Achakzai.

All business centres and shops remained closed in Quetta, Chaman, Loralai, Zhob, Qila Saifullah, Sibi, Qila Abdullah, Pishin, Ziarat, Harnai, Mastung and several other areas of the province and traffic remained thin on the roads because of the strike call.

Mr Achakzai went missing on Sept 25 last year while coming to Quetta from Chaman to attend a party meeting.

His mutilated and bullet-riddled body was found on Saturday when police arrested a member of the Levies’ Force who confessed to the killing and pointed out the place where he had thrown his body.

Meanwhile, funeral prayers of Mr Achakzai were offered in his village near Chaman amid tight security and he was later buried there.

The funeral prayers were attended by a large number of people and central and provincial leaders of the ANP.

A heavy contingent of police, Levies Force, ATF and Frontier Crops was deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incident.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2021