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Quetta cut off, more violence in Balochistan

      Quetta: The movement of all trains towards Balochistan, and particularly to capital Quetta from other parts of Pakistan has been suspended in the wake of more reports of mayhem in the tribal province following the death of Baloch leader Akbar Khan Bugti in a military operation in the Kohlu Hills. Informed sources contacted said that most of the railway tracks leading out of Quetta have been blocked and boulders have been placed on railway lines. Officials at the Railways headquarters in Lahore have issued directives not to operate any train between Quetta and Sibbi. Railway traffic on the 141-kilometre track between Quetta and Sibbi has been closed till further orders. The Bolan Mail and Balochistan Express trains that run between Karachi and Quetta are being operated only up to Sibbi. The Quetta Express originating from Peshawar, and Jaffar Express from Rawalpindi are under suspension. The railway headquarters has issued directives not to make any reservations for Quetta, as trains would operate only up to Sibbi.

   Routine life has come to a complete halt in Quetta, almost 72 hours after the torching and ransacking of several government buildings, banks and private property. Even as funeral prayers were being held for Akbar Bugti at the Ayub Stadium, grief- stricken mobs have been roaming around in a frenzy, setting ablaze and smashing anything in sight, cars, tyres, glassed buildings and windows. The protesters continue to vent their anger by putting up huge bonfires. A restive Balochistan has also been crippled by a strike organised by the four party Baloch Alliance. All business centres, markets and shops have downed their shutters and vehicles have gone off the road in roads in Quetta, Turbat, Mund, Buleda, Dasht, Tamp, Naukundi, Saindak, Khuzdar, Taftan, Usta Muhammad, Gandakha, Jhall Magsi, Naseer Abad and Dera Allahyar. The main national highways, including Quetta-Khuzdar-Karachi, Quetta-Dalbandin-Taftan-Nokandi as well as Quetta-Jaccobabad, were blocked for all kinds of traffic. Unruly protesters are being repeatedly confronted by paramilitaries and other security personnel in an attempt to bring the situation under control. Troops are resorting to firing in the air to disperse the mobs in different localities.

     Meanwhile, all government offices and educational institutions continue to remain closed in anticipation of further violence. Tuesday was declared a holiday in the province by the local administration to pre-empt trouble. So far, over 100 persons, including a senator and two members of the Balochistan Assembly, have been taken into custody for disturbing the peace. Jan Muhammad Buladi and Rahmat Ali Baloch, both members of the Balochistan Assembly, and Senator Dr Abdul Malik Baloch have been detained in the Bijli Ghar and BIjli Road police stations respectively.

Sindh Assembly adjourned over Bugti killing

      Karachi: Sindh Assembly Speaker Rahila Tiwana had to suspend legislative proceedings on Tuesday when a defiant but united opposition refused to stop condemning the murder of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. The session lasted all of 17 minutes because Tiwana as the acting Speaker did not allow Muttahida Qaumi Movement member Mohammad Hussain or Leader of Opposition Nisar Khuhro to go beyond praying for the salvation of Bugti's soul and for the early convalesence of nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. The Speaker forbade any of the members from making other comments, except naming of the deceased, which sparked off a great furore in the opposition camp. When Khuhro sought permission to move a resolution on the demise of Nawab Akbar Bugti, the Speaker insisted on taking up normal business, which infuriated the opposition. Tempers were at a high and the sloganeering in the house led to its indefinite adjournment sine die. Treasury bench members left the Assembly, and inspite of the lights being put off, Opposition members Khuhro, Saifullah Dharejo, Nasrullah Shaji, Qaim Ali Shah, Hamidullah Advocate and others delivered speeches in the house on megaphone condemning Akbar Bugti's killing. Dharejo also suggested moving a no confidence motion against the deputy speaker for her unwarranted attitude.

    On Monday, partial and complete strikes were observed in many towns of interior Sindh while protest rallies and demonstrations were also staged in several districts in protest against Bugti's killing by the Pakistan Army. Localities, including Qasimabad, Bhitai Nagar and Naseem Nagar, in the Qasimabad Taluka remained closed. The Awami Tehreek and the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STPP) have announced mourning of one week and three days, respectively, across the province. The Jeay Sindh Students Federation (JSSF) staged a protest demonstration and a sit-in in Wahdat Colony and a Qasimabad road and set tyres on fire. They also blocked roads for some time and raised slogans against the government. Students of the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, under the aegis of the JSSF, also staged a protest demonstration outside the Hyderabad Press Club after boycotting their classes. Violent protests continue in Thatta and Larkana inspite of a strike-cum-shutdown being announced.

     Police continue to patrol streets and have set up pickets at sensitive points to avert further destruction and disturbance. All main bossiness centres in the Larkana city, including Shahi Bazaar, Resham Gali, Bandar Road, Anaj Mandi, Pakistan Chowk, Lahore Mohalla, Bakrani Road, Karman Bagh, remain closed. Bugti's killing is being viewed by the common man as a vacuum in the national politics. Nationalists from Balochistan said it was obvious from the Kohlu killings that there was "nothing in the stock of the rulers except bullets for those who demand their rights". The Sindh National Party and the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STPP) are at the forefront of some of the protests in the province, including in places like Dadu, Jamshoro, Kotri, Thano Bula Khan and Manjhand to name a few. In Punjab province, the Pakistan Saraiki Party (PSP) is leading the protests. Here, Bugti is being seen as a champion of provincial autonomy and national rights.

Mystery over Akbar Bugti's body

      Karachi/Islamabad: The whereabouts of Baloch leader Akbar Khan Bugti's body continue to remain a mystery, with neither the Pakistan Government nor the Bugti tribe coming out clearly with a statement on the issue. Rumours are abounding that Akbar Bugti may have escaped the Pakistan Army's pounding of the cave hideout in the Kohlu Hills on August 26. On Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who is facing a no-confidence motion against his Government in the National Assembly, told reporters on the sidelines in Islamabad, that heavy excavatory equipment has been sent to the Kohlu Hills to remove the debris around Bugti's reported hideout in an attempt to retrieve his body.

    The Government and Bugti's Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) continue to trade charges about the location of Bugti's body. Amanullah Kanrani, the information secretary of the JWP, was quoted as saying from Quetta that he had reason to believe that Nawab Bugti's body was lying at the Combined Military Hospital in Quetta's Cantonment area. Jam Mohamamd Yousuf, Balochistan's Chief Minister, however, countered this accusation by saying that the local administration was putting its best foot forward to find Bugti's body and hand it over to members of his family. Family members said that they have refusedto allow the Government to bury Nawab Bugti's body in his ancestral graveyard in Dera Bugti, saying it should be handed over to them. Veteran politician Sherbaz Khan Mazari claimed that Bugti's body had been taken to Islamabad, a charge that invited immediate denial by Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao. He said that Bugti's body was not in government custody. On the other hand, some in the government are saying that Bugti's body has been taken out from under the rubble of the cave that had collapsed during the August 26 military offensive. Military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan was quoted by the Dawn as saying that the cave occupied by Bugti was custom-built, with heavily fortified bunkers and a lot of ammunition. He said that it was about 100 feet long and had long winding passages. There was at least one room in the cave with a ventilation opening. Major General Sultan said that finding Bugti's remains would be a long, torturous process. Army engineers are manually attempting to remove the debris and retrieeve Bugti's body, he said.

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