Ask anyone in Quetta how the last couple of weeks have been. This has not been an easy stretch for Balochistan’s capital, one blocked road after another, hospitals bracing for the worst, and families still waiting for news of loved ones.
The latest chapter closed this week, when a five-day sit-in on Airport Road finally wound down. Protesters had set up camp after gunmen struck the Hanna Urak area of Kili Babri, on the city’s outskirts, on July 5, killing five civilians, wounding eight, and dragging away eleven others. For five days, the road stayed shut, and traffic across the city ground to a frustrating halt.
A tense wait, then relief
What broke the deadlock was a sit-down between Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti and the protest committee, tribal elders, grieving families, and a handful of senior officials all in the same room, hashing things out. By Thursday night, word came through: all eleven abducted men were safe. Ten had been released overnight, one a day earlier, and all were brought back to Quetta. Officials were quick to call it a joint win, government, police, and tribal mediators working together to get people home.
It’s the kind of news this city hasn’t had much of lately. The Hanna Urak attack wasn’t a one-off, either barely a day before it, an earlier clash in that same area had already forced the health department to put every government hospital in Quetta on emergency alert.
Living under heightened alert
Even before Hanna Urak, the city had already been on edge. A credible threat warning had prompted a visible show of force, Frontier Corps troops, police, checkpoints at every major entry point, markets, and government building. For ordinary people just trying to get to work, that meant snap searches and long waits at checkpoints that had become part of daily life. Even the Quetta-Karachi highway, a lifeline for the region, briefly shut down before reopening under watchful eyes.
That same week brought one of the toughest nights security forces here have faced in a while. Nine policemen were killed in Mangi Phase III after a gun battle with militants that dragged on through the night, officers holding their positions for hours before it was finally over.
A measure of justice in a trader’s killing
There was at least one piece of resolution amid the chaos. Police say three men from Satellite Town have confessed to killing Mohammad Hashim Noorzai, a well-known local businessman and owner of the Kabul Jan Hotel on Airport Road. Investigators believe it came down to something depressingly ordinary, jealousy and a business rivalry gone violent. Noorzai was ambushed near the Baleli Bypass on June 27 while driving in from Kuchlak, shot dead in his own car. The killing had already sparked protests and highway blockades from angry traders and family members demanding answers, a scene that, sadly, keeps repeating itself in Quetta.
Islamabad takes notice
The scale of it all hasn’t escaped the federal government’s attention. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made the trip to Quetta this week, adding to a string of visits from top officials, including Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, as Islamabad tries to keep a closer eye on Balochistan’s security situation.
What it all adds up to
Put it all together, and you get a city stuck in a loop, roads reopen, then close again. Hospitals stand down from emergency mode, then brace once more. People here have grown used to a rhythm of grief and vigilance that no one should have to get used to. Airport Road reopening this week is a relief, sure, but nobody in Quetta is under any illusion that the calm will last very long.
For now, life goes on the way it has for a while, people keep an eye on the roads, wait for the next bit of bad news, and hope, quietly, that this lull holds a little longer than the last one did.
References:
- Pakistan Today, “Quetta protest over Hanna Urak tragedy ends,” July 11, 2026
- Pakistan Today, “Quetta steps up security after threat alert,” July 3, 2026
- The Express Tribune, “Three confess to Quetta trader’s killing,” July 4, 2026
- The Express Tribune, “Armed clash near Quetta leaves four dead, seven injured,” July 6, 2026
- Aaj English TV, “Prime Minister Arrives in Quetta Today for a Key Visit,” July 9, 2026
