By Mohammad Zafar
QUETTA: Six people belonging to the Hazara community were killed and three others were injured when armed men opened fire at a cobblers shop on the Prince Road in the provincial capital on Monday night.
Police termed the incident a case of sectarian violence and started investigation.
According to official sources, the shoemakers were sitting inside their shop when assailants on two motorcycles opened fire on them with automatic weapons, killing six of them instantly while injuring three others.
The bodies and injured were taken to Sandeman Hosptial. “At least six dead bodies and three injured were brought to the hospital,” doctors at the hospital said.
The deceased were identified as Mama Karim, Muhammad Hassan, Saeed Ahmed, Qurban Ali, Nadir Ali and Shabir Hussain while injured as Yunus, Lala Musa and Ustad Hadi.
Score of people belonging to the Hazara community reached the hospital and raised slogans against the government and law enforcement agencies for their failure to protect life and property of citizens.
Quetta Police Deputy Inspector General Qazi Wahid said that all the victims belonged to Hazara community and it appeared to be a case of sectarian target killing. A group of angry people blocked the Jinnah Road and forcibly closed shops in the area to mark the protest. Some people armed with sophisticated weapons harassed the doctors and journalists and surrounded the hospital.
Daily Times
Monday, April 9, 2012
'They won't get off this ship. They want Australia to help'
Michael Bachelard
April 10, 2012 - 10:27AM
The asylum seekers are refusing to disembark. Photo: Reuters
The 120 Afghani men and boys refusing to get off the ship that rescued them off the coast of Indonesia have pleaded with Australian authorities to help them.
In an interview by phone with this website, one of the refugees, Liaqat Ali Amini, said the people, all ethnic Hazaras, were frightened of the Indonesian police and of being put in “prison”.
“People are afraid of Indonesian police, they take away our money and mobile phones, and put behind bars, and we have no contact with our family,” Mr Amini said.
Advertisement: Story continues below
“We don't want to get off. People say we want to get to Australia, we were in international waters when we suffered a lot from this sinking boat.
“Our destination is not Indonesia. We came to Australia. People are on this ship, and they won't get off this ship and they want Australia to help.”
Mr Amini said four of the asylum seekers were just 12 years old and 25 were aged under 18.
Mr Amini said the group had boarded the boat late on Saturday and headed for Christmas Island. But not all the engines worked and, “They were broken very soon”.
Indonesian authorities have confirmed that they had received a distress call from the boat which was sinking in the Sunda Strait south of Java at about 5.30am on Sunday. They called in the nearest ship, the Hermia, a Singapore-flagged oil tanker.
Mr Amini said they had made it to international waters, but that, as they foundered, the wind had blown them back into Indonesian waters.
Now, however, they are in dock in the port of Merak, western Java.
Mr Amini asked for help to speak to the immigration department in Australia.
“I feel in Australia I will get blessed and I see many people from my tribe are trying to get to Australia and they are getting to Australia and seeking asylum,” Mr Amini said.
He said he came from Ghazni in the mountains of Afghanistan, and that his life had been threatened by insurgents.
He had been hoping for many years to come to Australia, but had only recently raised the $US20,000 fee to pay the people smuggler, whom he identified as Haji.
They had come by plane to Bangkok, then by road and boat to Malaysia and then Indonesia. They waited for a boat for about two months in Bogor, just outside Jakarta.
Mr Amini said he had heard in Indonesia about Australia's change in detention policy, in which asylum seekers were now being kept in the community.
However, his desire to come to Australia had long predated the policy change.
National Times
April 10, 2012 - 10:27AM
The 120 Afghani men and boys refusing to get off the ship that rescued them off the coast of Indonesia have pleaded with Australian authorities to help them.
In an interview by phone with this website, one of the refugees, Liaqat Ali Amini, said the people, all ethnic Hazaras, were frightened of the Indonesian police and of being put in “prison”.
“People are afraid of Indonesian police, they take away our money and mobile phones, and put behind bars, and we have no contact with our family,” Mr Amini said.
Advertisement: Story continues below
“We don't want to get off. People say we want to get to Australia, we were in international waters when we suffered a lot from this sinking boat.
“Our destination is not Indonesia. We came to Australia. People are on this ship, and they won't get off this ship and they want Australia to help.”
Mr Amini said four of the asylum seekers were just 12 years old and 25 were aged under 18.
Mr Amini said the group had boarded the boat late on Saturday and headed for Christmas Island. But not all the engines worked and, “They were broken very soon”.
Indonesian authorities have confirmed that they had received a distress call from the boat which was sinking in the Sunda Strait south of Java at about 5.30am on Sunday. They called in the nearest ship, the Hermia, a Singapore-flagged oil tanker.
Mr Amini said they had made it to international waters, but that, as they foundered, the wind had blown them back into Indonesian waters.
Now, however, they are in dock in the port of Merak, western Java.
Mr Amini asked for help to speak to the immigration department in Australia.
“I feel in Australia I will get blessed and I see many people from my tribe are trying to get to Australia and they are getting to Australia and seeking asylum,” Mr Amini said.
He said he came from Ghazni in the mountains of Afghanistan, and that his life had been threatened by insurgents.
He had been hoping for many years to come to Australia, but had only recently raised the $US20,000 fee to pay the people smuggler, whom he identified as Haji.
They had come by plane to Bangkok, then by road and boat to Malaysia and then Indonesia. They waited for a boat for about two months in Bogor, just outside Jakarta.
Mr Amini said he had heard in Indonesia about Australia's change in detention policy, in which asylum seekers were now being kept in the community.
However, his desire to come to Australia had long predated the policy change.
National Times
Raisani sacks seven officials over killing of six Shias
Paramedics give medical treatment to an injured Shia Muslim man at a hospital in Quetta on Monday. – Photo by AFP
QUETTA: Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani on Monday sacked seven police officials on duty when unidentified gunmen shot dead six Shia Muslims in Quetta, DawnNews reported.
According to police sources, 17 suspects have also been arrested in connection with killing of Hazara community earlier today.
The drive-by shooting took place at the busy Prince Road in the Balochistan capital.
“Two gunmen riding a motorbike opened fire on a shoe store killing four Shia Muslims and wounding three others,” senior police official Muhammad Tariq told AFP.
“It was most probably a sectarian incident but the police are investigating,” he said.
Another police official, Jehangir Shah, also confirmed the incident and the four casualties.
Later, two out of three injured succumbed to their injuries in a hospital.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Balochistan is rife with religious militancy and sectarian violence between majority Sunnis and minority Shia Muslims, and a regional separatist insurgency.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed since Baloch rebels rose up in 2004 against the federal government, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the oil, gas and mineral resources in the region.
DAWN NEWS
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)