Two people from the Hazara community were shot dead by identified armed men on Sunday near the Western Bypass in Quetta.
According to reports, the men were traveling out of the city when unidentified assailants opened fire resulting in the death of two. A police official was injured in the attack, who was later shifted to Bolan Medical Complex in Quetta for treatment.
“It is a sectarian target killing,” senior police officer Syed Attaullah Shah said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
At least six Hazaras have been killed in targeted killings in the past two months in Quetta, the official added.
This is fifth reported sectarian attack in the provincial capital during the current month.
Hazara community has denounced the government’s failure to provide them security. The community has asked the government to prove its seriousness in the security matters pertaining to the ethnic group.
Many Hazaras fled to Pakistan during decades of conflict in neighboring Afghanistan, and nearly half a million now live in and around Quetta.
In 2013, three separate bombings killed more than 200 people in Hazara neighborhoods, raising international awareness of the plight of the community.
Published in Daily Times, April 23rd 2018.