QUETTA, Sept 8: The Balochistan High Court (BHC) has sought reports from the Quetta police chief and Bolan deputy commissioner on the murder of a lawyer, Zaman Marri; six labourers in Khilji Colony and 11 people in Ab-i-Gum area.

A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Mohammad Noor Meskanzai, while hearing a suo motu case on targeted killings on Wednesday, observed that the murder of Mr Marri followed the killings of lawyers Mustafa Qureshi, Wilayat Hussain and Habib Jalib Baloch.

The court said more incidents of targeted killing had taken place since the last hearing, including the murder of 11 passengers of a bus near Ab-i-Gum in Bolan, adding it had been reported in newspapers that the assailants had no enmity with the victims.

Similarly, six labourers had been shot dead in Khilji Colony for no apparent reason other than to spread terror, it said.

The court said that according to the deputy attorney-general, 22 organisations had been banned under the Anti-Terrorism Act, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Sipah-i-Muhammad, Jaish-i-Muhammad, Tehrik-i-Jafria, Lashkar-e-Taia, Al Qaeda and Baloch Liberation Army.

The hearing was adjourned till Sept 28.