Thousands of Shiite Muslims attend funeral of Quetta blast victims, countrywide protest / Pics

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Amid a pall of gloom and heavy deployment of security personnel, thousands of Shia mourners laid to rest the victims of Sunday night’s suicide attack in the Hazara Town graveyard on Monday.At least 28 innocent Shiite people, nine of them women, were killed and 60 injured when a bomber blew himself up near a barrier close to Ali Ibn-Abu-Talib Imambargah in the Aliabad area of Hazara Town on Sunday night. And two of the injured succumbed to their injuries on Monday morning, taking the toll to 30.Caskets containing bodies of the deceased were brought to the graveyard amid tight security.A heavy contingent of police and Frontier Corps personnel had been deployed in and around the graveyard and all entry points to Hazara Town had been sealed.Talking to journalists after the burial, Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) president Abdul Khaliq Hazara, member of the Balochistan Assembly and leader of Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen Syed Reza Agha and Balochistan Shia Conference (BSC) leader Daud Agha criticised the government and law-enforcement agencies for their failure to protect people’s lives.They said although hundreds of security personnel had been deployed in the city terrorists were carrying out attacks when and wherever they wanted.They said about 400 [Shiite] people had been killed over the past six moths in bomb attacks in the city and security forces were unable to arrest any of the culprits.They accused the security forces of leaving members of Hazara community and Shias at the mercy of terrorists.Meanwhile, a six-member team headed by the SP investigation has been formed for the blast probe.Police sources said that law-enforcement personnel had launched an operation in different areas of the city and took two suspects into custody.STRIKE: On the calls of HDP and BSC a strike was observed in Quetta in protest against the attack on innocent people.Trading centres and shops on the Shara-i-Iqbal, Liaquat bazaar and Jinnah, Prince, Circular, Alamdar and Mission roads and in Marriabad and Hazara Town remained closed.DEMONSTRATION: Activists and supporters of HDP held a protest demonstration.Carrying placards and banners, a large number of people gathered outside the press club and raised slogans against the government.Addressing the protesters, HDP leaders Azizullah Hazara, Bostan Ali Kishtmand and Mohammad Raza Wakeel said the government had failed in its duty to protect the Shiite Muslims.They said some forces wanted to create a civil war like situation in Quetta.They alleged that some elements in law-enforcement agencies were supporting and protecting perpetrators of such attacks.The HDP leaders criticised law-enforcement personnel and said how could a suicide bomber enter the Aliabad area with a number of security checkposts in and around it.They demanded action against elements involved in Hazara Town bombings and a blast in a bus of Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University in which many female students were killed. Protests in Sindh towns over Quetta bomb attackA partial strike was observed in Hyderabad and protest demonstrations were held in other major towns of Sindh on Monday over the Hazara Town incident in Quetta.Activists of the Majlis-i-Wahdat Muslimeen (MWM), the Shia Ulema Council and the Jaffria Students Organisation took out protest rallies in Nawabshah, Khairpur, Jacobabad and Mirpurkhas. Party leaders and protesters condemned the incident and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.In Hyderabad, a partial strike was observed in some localities against the Quetta suicide bomb attack on the Hazara community on Monday. No untoward incident was reported throughout the day.Main bazaars and shopping malls were temporarily shut during the day as some men resorted to firing into the air early morning and burnt old tires on roundabouts. In the afternoon, however, shops began to open along with the main bazaars, petrol pumps and CNG filling stations.Activists of Shia Ulema Council held a protest demonstration outside the press club against the Quetta tragedy. It was led by Shia Ulema Council leaders Maulana Azam Qambrani, Mustafa Ali Haidri and others.They demanded the arrest and punishment of the perpetrators, treatment of the injured and announcement of compensation for the heirs of the deceased and injured persons.The Hazara community also protested against the incident outside the press club, while rallies were taken out by the community members in a few localities.According to a press release issued by the MWM-Hyderabad general secretary Imdad Ali Naseemi the government was urged to take serious action against terror attacks and terrorists.NAWABSHAH: The Shia Ulema Council, the MWM and the Jaffria Students Organisation held separate protest demonstrations in Nawabshah on Monday.Members of the Shia Ulema Council and Jaffria Students Organisation took out a rally that started from Mohni Bazaar and ended outside the local press club. Addressing the protesters, the leaders of these groups said there was no animosity between Shias and Sunnis. They added that the Shias were being killed through a planned conspiracy and accused US and Israeli agents of being behind this attack.They strongly condemned the Hazara town incident and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. Meanwhile MWM activists also held a protest demonstration at Paratha Chowk in Nawabshah.KHAIRPUR: Activists of the Shia Ulema Council led a protest rally from Punj Gulla Chowk in Khairpur on Monday passing through various roads and gathered outside the local press club to protest against the Quetta incident. They raised slogans against the terrorist activities in the country; particularly against the targeting of persons belonging to the Shia sect in Quetta. The protestors said these incidents against the Shias were being done in Quetta under a conspiracy; however, the government had failed to take any action in this matter.JACOBABAD: To condemn the Quetta carnage, a rally was taken out by the Payam Wilayat Foundation Pakistan (PWFP) from central Imambargah Jacobabad on Monday.Addressing the rally, leaders of PWFP said that the Shias were under attack because of a conspiracy and the government’s failure in arresting the culprits had made the Shia community despondent.MIRPURKHAS: Scores of workers of MWM in district Mirpurkhas took out a protest rally here on Monday beginning from the shrine of Makhan Shah. Protesters led by Maulana Abbas Qummi marched through main roads and reached the local press club where they strongly denounced the terrorist attack in Quetta and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits, called for their exemplary punishment./129