QUETTA, Pakistan: The families of Mastung carnage victims were staging a sit-in protest outside the governor house in Quetta on Saturday, hours after 21 people were gunned down in Balochistan’s Mastung district.
On Friday night, some 20 unknown gunmen abducted passengers of two Karachi-bound buses in Mastung and killed 21 of them in mountainous area of Khod Kocha. A few of passengers were also injured while some of them were still missing.
Following the incident, family members and relatives of those killed in the Mastung massacre held a sit-in along with the dead bodies at the Jinnah road in Quetta.
Meanwhile, negotiations held between the government officials and the protesters failed which led the latter to move their sit-in outside the governor house.
The Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch also reached the sit-in area and assured protesters that perpetrators of Mastung carnage will not be spared. He said that Mastung carnage was aimed at triggering tribal war.
Dr Abdul Malik also directed the authorities to ensure immediate and safe recovery of the passengers. He declared three days of mourning in the province.
Earlier, the Home Minster Balochistan Mir Sarfaraz Bugti told media in Quetta that the armed men intercepted the buses and ordered passengers to alight. He said that they searched the passengers and after identification took them away towards nearby mountain range.
The home minister said that law enforcement agencies including Frontier Corps (FC), Police and Levies Force have launched operation to trace out the whereabouts of the passengers.
On the other hand, President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed concern over the kidnapping and killing of bus passengers in Mastung.
The prime minister sought a report into the incident and directed to take every step possible to safely rescue the kidnapped persons at the earliest.
The Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan directed to supply two helicopters to the Frontier Constabulary to search the kidnappers.
