Pakistan: Sit-in against killings in Parachinar expands to Karachi

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], December 27 (ANI): A religiopolitical party holding protest against the killings in Parachinar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Kurram district expanded its protest in Karachi on Thursday, prompting traffic officials to issue traffic plans in order to avoid inconveniences to the commuters, Dawn reported.
Violent clashes, which have claimed more than 100 lives since late November, have cut Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Kurram from other parts of Pakistan. Earlier on Sunday, two people were killed and later decapitated after being waylaid on their way towards Parachinar in Kurram's Bagan.
Ishaq Hussain and Waseem Hussain, residents of Parachinar who had returned from abroad, had hired people to help them travel back to their hometown. However, the suspects intercepted them on their way and shot them followed by decapitation, Dawn reported.
The Majlis Wahdat Muslimeen (MWM) held sit-ins on MA Jinnah Road and Abbas Town on Abul Hasan Ispahani Road to showcase solidarity with the families of the victims of the Parachinar situation for the past three days.
The venue of the sit-in was expanded to the Malir area on the main National Highway on Thursday. In a statement, a traffic police spokesperson said that the "main National Highway from Malir-15 Bridge towards Quaidabad was closed for traffic due to the sit-in."
The statement further said, "The traffic is being diverted from Malir towards Model Colony."
Earlier, the MWN in a statement said that their sit-in at Numaish Chowrangi continued consecutively on Thursday. In his remarks, MWM central leader Allama Hasan Zafar Naqvi said they were holding a peaceful protest against "barbarianism", Dawn reported.
Considering expected protests and sit-in across Karachi from Thursday night, traffic police have made a traffic plan for Sharea Pakistan from Star Gate/Natha Khan, National Highway (Malir-15), Sharea Pakistan (Ancholi), Rizvia Chowrangi (Nazimabad), Abbas Town, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Korangi, Gulshan-i-Maymar, Steel Town/Gulshan-i-Hadeed and North Karachi/Surjani Town.
By 9:43pm, traffic police announced another statement that roads leading to and from Sharea Faisal were shut due to the protests. The statement reads, "Members of a religiopolitical party are staging a protest against the incident in Parachinar," Dawn report.
The statement further said, "Traffic coming from Star Gate is being diverted from Shah Faisal Colony Bridge to Shah Faisal Colony and traffic coming from the city is being diverted from Drigh Road to Rashid Manhas Road." (ANI)