QUETTA: Angry mobs protesting the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti cut off the main highway connecting Quetta to Karachi at four points and another heading west to Iran on Wednesday as the number of arrests in four days rose to nearly 700, said Balochistan IG Chaudhry Yaqub. Meanwhile, suspected militants blew up a railway line in Mastung district while protesters set fire to a government savings office and half a dozen shops in Khuzdar. About 200 people blocking a bridge with trucks on the highway to Karachi lifted their siege after eight hours following talks between protest leaders and government officials. Boulders and crudely erected barricades blocked another road linking Karachi with Gwadar. The blockades prevented many workers from entering Quetta, forcing markets, banks and shops to close. Dozens of buses were parked at a terminal in Quetta unable to leave for Karachi and Lahore, according to an AP cameraman at the scene.
| “... authorities have arrested 670 people for inciting violence and for attacks on public and private property since late Saturday...” |
Meanwhile, a strike was observed across Sindh, particularly in Baloch-populated areas. Pakistan Railways Quetta Division said that rail traffic remained functional in Balochistan on August 28, 29 and 30. Also, the army flew a group of reporters to the cave by helicopter to brief them on work to retrieve BugtiÂ’s body.