Six members of Hazara community killed in Quetta firing incident

The Express Tribune News

Six people were shot dead and three others wounded when armed assailants on two motorbikes opened fire at a shoe shop on Prince Road in Quetta on Monday night.
According to police, the victims were sitting inside a shoe-making store on the main intersection located on Prince and Masjid road, when they were attacked.
The attackers managed to flee from the scene after committing the crime.
“All the victims belonged to Hazara community and it appears to be a case of targeted sectarian killing,” Deputy Inspector General Police (DIG-Operations) Quetta Qazi Wahid told The Express Tribune.
The assailants on two motorbikes escaped after opening fire on the shoe-makers. Resultantly, four people died on the spot while two others received multiple bullet wounds.
A heavy contingent of police rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area.
The dead and injured were taken to Provincial Sandeman Hosptial. “At least six dead bodies and three injured were brought here,” doctors at the hospital said.
The deceased were identified as Mama Karim, Mohammad Hassan, Saeed Ahmed, Qurban Ali, Nadir Ali and Shabir Hussain while injured as Yunus, Lala Musa and Ustad Hadi.
A score of people belonging to Hazara Community reached the hospital and registered their protest by raising slogans against the government and law enforcing agencies over their failure to protect the life and property of civilians.
A group angry protestors also blocked the Jinnah Road and forced shops in the area to shut down. Some people armed with sophisticated weapons harassed the doctors and journalists and surrounded the hospital. An Express News reporter, Arif Mehmood, sustained minor injuries during a stampede at the hospital after some people brandished weapons.
A passer-by identified Nor Azam received bullet wounds when some people resorted to aerial firing as they condemned the killing.
However, security forces and police reached the hospital and controlled the situation.
DIG operations Qazi Wahid said police were investigating the incident and will interview the shopkeepers who were present there when incident took place.