Police in Turbat broke the locks of several shops and attempted to force them open on Thursday as businesses remained closed in protest against Pakistani military airstrikes in Gidar, Surab.
A video circulating on social media showed police personnel breaking shop locks and attempting to reopen businesses in the presence of the Assistant Commissioner of Turbat.
Representatives of the Anjuman-e-Tajiran, a local traders’ association, told journalists that the organisation had not called for a strike but that shopkeepers had voluntarily closed their businesses in protest against the Surab incident.
The traders’ association expressed regret over the police action and said the matter was brought to the attention of the Deputy Commissioner of Kech.
It said the issue was subsequently resolved through the deputy commissioner’s intervention and that no further confrontation or unrest occurred.
A shutter-down and wheel-jam strike is being observed across several parts of Balochistan on Thursday following a call by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) against the bombing of populated areas in Gidar, Surab, and the resulting civilian deaths.
Commercial centres and shops remained closed in Surab, Khuzdar, Kalat, Mastung, Noshki and other areas, while traffic was also affected at several locations.
Affected families and local residents have continued a sit-in on the N-25 Quetta-Karachi highway in Surab, where they placed the bodies of those killed on the road in protest against the bombing.
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