QUETTA: Authorities on Wed­nesday sealed all entry points leading to Quetta’s Red Zone using shipping containers, heavy police deployment, and barbed wire to block potential protests, sit-ins, and unauthorised public gatherings near sensitive government buildings.

The government action triggered worst traffic jam in the provincial capital, badly disrupting the daily life of the masses.

Sources said that the provincial administration has taken these security measures on the basis of some intelligence reports.

The roads’ closure left government and private employees, students, patients and commuters stranded for hours in sweltering heat.

People stuck up in massive traffic jams condemned the government move saying that repeated closures of city’s main roads and paralyzing daily lives of millions of citizens for security of a limited number of VIPs was not justified.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2026