QUETTA: A strike was observed on Thursday in several areas of Balochistan, including the provincial capital Quetta, against the kidnapping of Awami National Party (ANP) leader Abdul Zahir Kasi a day earlier, DawnNews reported.

Most places of business and shops were shut in Qila Abdullah, Chaman, Kuchlak, Qila Saifullah, Pishin, Loralai, Ziarat and other districts of the restive province.

Lawyers boycotted court proceedings in the province after Ataullah Lango, general secretary of the Balochistan Bar Association, announced on Wednesday that their fraternity would support the strike call in condemnation of the kidnapping.

The strike was also supported by the Balochistan National Party (BNP), Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI), and other political parties.

Arbab Zahir Kasi, a former provincial president of the ANP, was kidnapped from Quetta's Patel road by armed men on Wednesday.

Following the kidnapping, members of the ANP’s organising committee Abdul Jabbar Kakar, Rashid Nasar and Malik Obaidullah Kasi held a press conference and announced that their party had decided to urge traders to observe a complete strike.

They had said the party would hold protest rallies against growing incidents of kidnapping.

They urged the government to take the matter seriously and said that besides being a leader of the ANP Mr Kasi was also the chief of his tribe. People, they added, would strongly react if the government failed to recover him.

They expressed concern over the worsening situation in the city and said that because of the failure of the government and law-enforcement agencies to rein in criminals, doctors, university and college teachers, tribal elders and politicians were not safe in the country.