KARACHI: The Shia Ulema Council have called for a strike to be observed in Karachi on Monday in response to the killings in Quetta that left 84 people dead, DawnNews reported.

The Ulema said the strike will be held peacefully and that the sit-in will continue at Numaish Chowrangi.

The business community in Karachi have supported the strike call, stating that shops and markets will be closed tomorrow.

Public transport will also be closed, along with the city's private schools.

Political parties have voiced there support for tomorrow's strike call, including the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) and Jamaat-i-Islami.

The MQM's Rabita Committee said that the terrorists involved in the Quetta attack must be arrested.

Meanwhile Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that arms and ammunition are brought into Quetta from Afghanistan.

He said that the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi group could not carry out such a large scale attack without foreign assistance.

The interior minister said that at the demand of the people of Balochistan, governor rule was imposed, after which there has been a reduction in target killings and kidnappings in the province.