A strike call on Sunday by the employees of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Sunday resulted in flights being cancelled or delayed leaving passengers stranded at the airports.

The angry members of the People’s Unity, an affiliate of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), gave the strike call after CBA union President Amir Shah was shot dead on Saturday.

Soon after hearing the news of murder of Amir on Saturday night, the People’s Unity members forced shut the Jinnah Terminal PIA booking office, the aircrews briefing room and the passenger counters at the Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad airports paralysing the airlines network.

The forced shutdown of the airline counters and other offices resulted in long delays of domestic and international flights including flights to Dubai, Manchester, London, Dammam and Abu Dhabi.

Earlier, police said that attackers riding on motorcycles opened fire at 42-year-old Amir’s white Toyota Corolla (ATB-661) when he was travelling with his friend Mairaj Khalid Jagirani near Kamran Chowrangi in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

Both Amir and Jagirani were taken to Aga Khan Hospital where they succumbed to their injuries. The police said Amir had been shot eight times.

As the news of the incident spread, PPP leaders and workers reached the hospital demanding arrest of the killers and resorted to aerial firing that forced the hospital management to close the main gate of the facility.

The killing triggered violence and angry people at Gulistan-e-Jauhar in protested, blocked roads and pelted passing cars with stones besides setting fire to a vehicle and forced shopkeepers to pull down their shutters in the area.