Hazara community ends sit-in, to bury dead today in Quetta

, Jan 24: The grieving Hazara community has ended its two-day long sit-in and agreed to bury the remains of the slain pilgrims following the assurance from Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar of a targeted operation against the perpetrators of the Mastung blast.

Leader of Hazara community Abdul Khaliq Hazara announced to end the sit-in being staged in Quetta and to bury the remains of the slain pilgrims today.

The Hazara community had refused to bury the 28 victims who were killed in blast

Talking to media late last night, Khaliq said the dead of Mastung carnage will be buried on Friday. Leader of Majlis-e-Wahadatul Muslimeen (MWM), Raja Nasir Abbas, also announced that nationwide sit-downs will end. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, who had flown down to Balochistan capital Quetta along with Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, termed the talks with community as successful and assured that all of their demands would be addressed.

"The terrorists cannot escape. We will go after the culprits and bring them to justice," he said. He said the federal and provincial governments would make Balochistan and Quetta peaceful for Hazara community which has repeatedly been under attack at the hands of terrorists.

The Hazara community had refused to bury the 28 victims who were killed in a a powerful blast in Mastung on Tuesday. Similar demonstrations were staged in other cities of the country including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Meanwhile, security forces detained at least three suspected individuals during an operation in Mastung's Kanak and Derringer areas that began early morning.

The operation was launched by security forces which included personnel from the Frontier Corps, police, the Anti- Terrorist Force and Levies and recruits from Balochistan Constabulary. The forces are also being assisted by helicopters and armoured carriers.

PTI