Perhaps after the Abbottabad incident of 2 May, our security forces have become trigger happy. On 17 May, a police party of Quetta air port police station signalled a suspicious vehicle for search which was coming from Kuchlagh. The security forces opened up fire on them and killed all of them before they reached the check post; not giving them time to surrender. A video clip of this incident on the TV shows a lady raising her hand for sparing her life. On body search it was revealed that they were Chechens as a blood stained passport of one of the victims was also shown on the TV.
To cover up and justify this killing, a story has been cooked up as usual by the security forces that the occupants showed their suicide jackets to the police and then they hurled two grenades on the check post etc. The ground realities and the interview of the locals who were there during the shooting show that these people never fired a shot or hurled a grenade or there was any grenade blast. Mere waving of hand of the Chechen girl proves that she was begging the police not to kill them. This incident needs going into and the IG FC of Quetta should hold an enquiry whether they were militants/terrorists or innocent tourists.
MUHAMMAD AZHAR KHWAJA
Lahore