Scuffles broke out on Wednesday as Pakistani Shiite Muslims buried the 89 victims of a second major bomb attack in five weeks, which has highlighted the government’s inability to stem sectarian violence.
Shiite leaders called off a three-day nationwide protest demanding army protection after the government promised those responsible would be arrested in a “targeted operation” and relatives of the dead compensated.
Around 1,000 people, shouting anti-government slogans and beating their chests, quarrelled with community leaders who agreed late on Tuesday to call off their sit-in on a main road in the southwestern city of Quetta.
Similar protests had been held in other major cities including Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, paralysing key routes and neighbourhoods.
In Quetta on Wednesday, an angry mob of young people and women, crying and screaming, initially refused to bury the dead, a reporter said.