Quetta News

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Monday directed the Quetta police to recover three men who went missing from the city within two days.

A three-judge bench headed by the CJP was hearing a case pertaining to law and order in Balochistan at Quetta’s Supreme Court Registry. The CJP ordered police officials to recover and present people who had gone missing from Jinnah town and Shalkot until Wednesday, warning them that otherwise they would be held accountable.

A would-be suicide bomber was killed on Thursday when a detonator he was carrying along with suicide vest prematurely went off on Kirani Road near Hazara Town. According to Brewery Superintendent of Police (SP) Malik Arshad, the plainclothesmen deployed near Hazara Town tried to stop a suspect, but he tried to run away after which police opened fire on him. The detonator prematurely went off, killing the ‘bomber’ on the spot. However, his suicide vest could not explode. The SP said the young bomber wanted to enter Hazara Town. Strong contingents of police and security forces reached the spot and cordoned off the area. According to the Bomb Disposal Squad, the would-be bomber was carrying four to eight kilogramme of explosives and ball bearings. The body was shifted to Bolan Medical College Hospital for autopsy. The identity of the alleged bomber could not be ascertained.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) spokesman Ali Sher Haidri, allegedly involved in killings of hundreds of Shias, was gunned down along with an accomplice by police in an encounter in Akhtarabad area of the provincial capital. Ali Murad alias Ali Sher Haidri, a resident of Machh in Balochistan, was identified by his brother. Police also recovered cell phones that had contact numbers of various media outlets and journalists. The other terrorist killed in the encounter was identified as Gul Jan alias Hafiz Naseer, a resident of Dalbandin. Bodies of both the terrorists were kept in the hospital morgue pending further legal proceedings.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) spokesman Ali Sher Haidri, allegedly involved in killings of hundreds of Shias, was gunned down along with an accomplice by police in an encounter in Akhtarabad area of the provincial capital. Ali Murad alias Ali Sher Haidri, a resident of Machh in Balochistan, was identified by his brother. Police also recovered cell phones that had contact numbers of various media outlets and journalists. The other terrorist killed in the encounter was identified as Gul Jan alias Hafiz Naseer, a resident of Dalbandin. Bodies of both the terrorists were kept in the hospital morgue pending further legal proceedings.

Two heavily armed terrorists were shot dead in a police encounter in Akhtarabad area of Quetta, close to Hazara Town, where most sectarian killings had been reported in recent months. A policeman, identified as Riaz, sustained bullet injuries, but was out of danger, while two Anti-Terrorism Force personnel were shot at in the chest but remained unhurt as they were wearing bullet-proof vests, police sources confirmed. Talking to reporters, DIG Operations Qazi Wahid said the police patrol spotted a car carrying two armed men and signalled them to stop for a security check and clearance. However, the men sped away and opened fire on the policemen. The policemen retaliated to the firing, and killed the two suspects.

Unidentified people on Friday kidnapped the legal adviser of Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) leader Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti from Satellite Town in the city.

According to police constable Nazakat Ali, unidentified people approached the lawyer, identified as Mukesh Kohli, in Satellite Town’s Ghausabad Block-V and abducted him at gunpoint.

Following the rise in the incidents of sectarian killings, the Balochistan Government has decided to start targeted action against the terrorists creating law and order problem, particularly stoking sectarian violence in the province by attacking people belonging to Hazara community of Shia Muslims.

This was decided on Sunday during a high-level meeting specially convened to review the law and order situation in Quetta after frequent incidents of sectarian killings, chaired by Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Aslam Raisani.

Law enforcement agencies have arrested over 100 suspects in a joint operation in several areas of the provincial capital during the last four days, police said on Tuesday. More >

Law enforcement agencies have arrested over 100 suspects in a joint operation in several areas of the provincial capital during the last four days, police said on Tuesday.

The operation was conducted by the Frontier Corps (FC), Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) and police in several localities of the city, including Sariab, Sabzal, Shalkot, Nawan Killi, Smuggli and Spinny Road. “So far, we have arrested over 100 suspects, who are being interrogated by a special investigation team to extract information about the perpetrators of target killings, which have claimed about 27 lives during the last 13 days,” official sources said.

Another Shia on Monday lost his life in a target-killing incident in Quetta. In the last one week as many as 29 Shias have been gunned down in Quetta. According to details, unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on Salman Ali Hazara, a businessman on Quarry Road. Ali died on the spot. Separately, unidentified men opened fire on a taxi that was coming towards Alamdar Road from Hazara Town. However, the passengers remained unhurt. Police and FC contingents reached the scene after the assailants fled from the scene.