QUETTA, June 19: A senior schoolteacher was shot dead in Arbab Karam Khan Road area here on Tuesday and the killing sparked protests in parts of the city.

Nazir Ahmed, headmaster of the Government High School Killi Sheikhan, was going to school when armed men on a motorcycle opened fire on him. He died on the spot.

Law-enforcement personnel took the body to civil hospital.The school was closed in mourning.

“We are investigating the incident,” a senior police officer said, adding the cause of the murder was not clear.

Hundreds of students took to the streets in protest against the killing of Mr Ahmed, who was a relative of veteran Baloch leader Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri.

Chanting slogans against the government and law-enforcement agencies, the protesters paraded various streets.

They blocked roads and burned tyres at various places, suspending traffic in parts of the city. They pelted vehicles, shops and government buildings with stones and pulled down signboards.

Police used tear gas and baton charge to disperse the angry youths who after some time called off the protest.