QUETTA: Another individual from Hazara community was shot dead by unidentified attackers in Quetta on Wednesday morning.
The deceased was identified as Muhammad Asif, son of Muhammad Nasir, who was at his shop located on Abdul Sattar Road when the incident took place.
The rescue officials reached the site and took the body to Civil Hospital Quetta for medico-legal formalities.
Meanwhile, the SHO of City Police Station, Malik Murad, stated that attackers fled the scene after killing Asif.
The targeted attacks on minorities in Quetta have increased once again, especially against Hazaras and Christian Community. Hazaras an ethnic community has been constantly targeted by the militants in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
On April 10, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar had said that “his head hangs in shame due to targeted killings of the Hazara Shia community”. “We don’t have the privilege to legislate and those who do have it are not legislating,” the CJP had said while addressing lawyers in Quetta registry’s bar room.
On April 1, an unidentified person opened fire on a Taxi in a marketplace of Quetta, killing a Hazara man. After the incident, Hazaras staged a sit-in in Quetta, followed by the protests in Lahore.
In 2013, at least 180 Hazaras were killed in bomb blasts-96 died in a bomb explosion at a snooker club frequently visited by Hazaras while 84 others were killed when a bomb went off in a vegetable market mostly used by Hazaras.
According to a recent report of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), at least 509 Hazaras have been killed and 627 have been injured in terror-related incidents in Quetta over the last five years. The report titled ‘Understanding the Agonies of Ethnic Hazaraz’ is based on the data shared by the Balochistan home department and lists the incidents of attacks on the Hazara community from January 2012 to Dec 2017.
The report also criticises national media for being oblivious to the plight of Hazara community and stated that the international media is more supportive towards the issues of Hazaras as compared to national media.
