QUETTA, July 22: Balochistan National Party (Mengal) leader Mir Juma Khan Raisani was gunned down along with his security guard and two other people on Friday in Khuzdar, about 320 kilometres south of here.

According to police, Mir Raisani was attacked when he was going home after Friday prayers. Gunmen sprayed his vehicle with bullets, killing him, his Levies guard, driver and another person on the spot.

A little known outlawed group, Baloch Armed Defence Army (Bada), claimed responsibility for the attack.

Khuzdar Range DIG Ghulam Rasool Domki said the assailants who had fired from a close range escaped on motorbikes.

Police and Frontier Corps personnel took the bodies to Khuzdar district hospital where the three other victims were identified as Levies constable Mohammad Ishaq, driver Mohammad and Mohammad Zareef.

BNP-M President Sardar Akhtar Mengal condemned the killing and termed it the continuation of what he described as the genocide of the Baloch nation.

“We will not abandon our cause because of such incidents and will continue struggle for the rights of the Baloch people,” he said.

The party announced a series of protests, including a complete strike in Kalat division, on Saturday.

BNP-M Information Secretary Agha Hassan Baloch blamed anti-Baloch elements for the killings.

He said in a statement that a shutter-down strike would be observed in Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar, Awaran and Lasbela districts on Saturday to demonstrate solidarity with families of the victims.

The BNP asked traders to close their shops on July 24 in Nushki, Dalbandin, Kharan and Washuk, on July 25 in the Makran coastal belt, on July 26 in Nasirabad division and on July 29 in Quetta.

The statement said the party would hold protest rallies in several districts, including the provincial capital, on July 30.