QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan has ordered an investigation into the death of a prominent Pashtun rights activist following a weekend sit-in that dissolved into clashes with police.
Friends and family of Arman Loni accuse the police of intentionally targeting and killing him. Loni was a leader in the Pashtun Protection Movement, which campaigns against perceived high-handedness by the security forces against the Pashtun minority.
He died on Saturday after clashes erupted at the sit-in in the town of Loralai in Baluchistan province. Police and doctors say he died of a heart attack.
The government didn’t elaborate on why an investigation was ordered.
In Quetta, the Baluchistan provincial capital, a partial strike started Monday with most shops closing to denounce Loni’s death.
Pashtuns make up about 15 percent of Pakistan’s population of 220 million.
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