QUETTA: After a dreadful attack at the pilgrims bus, a complete shutter down strike was observed in Quetta here on Friday.

At least 15 people are dead after a bus carrying Shi'ite pilgrims was attacked with a bomb and gunfire.

The city wore a deserted look after Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) called to observe a complete shutter-down strike Friday to condemn the target killings and Hazar Gunji bomb blast the previous day.

Business activities in different areas including Alamdar Road, Hazara Town, Toghi Road, Gulistan Road, Liaquat Bazaar, Bacha Khan Chowk and in adjoining areas were suspended while traffic was also thin on the roads.

While announcing to support today’s strike, different politico-religious parties including Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) strongly condemned the Hazar Gunji blast and demanded the government to provide security to the general public or else step down.

Balochistan has become an increasing flashpoint for sectarian violence between Pakistan’s majority Sunni Muslims and minority Shias, who account for around a fifth of the country’s 167 million population.

Balochistan is also rife with Islamist militancy and a regional insurgency waged by separatists who rose up in 2004 demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region’s wealth of natural resources.

It is one of the most deprived regions of Pakistan despite its wealth in resources, and human rights activists have accused the military of mass arrests and extra-judicial executions in its bid to put down the separatist insurgency.

Around 5,000 people have been killed in outbreaks of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia militant groups in Pakistan since the late 1980s.