The year 2016 comes to a close; we remember the defining and sad moments that this year gave us. This year was full of surprises, twists, and amazements that made us proud but on the other hand, we faced lots of challenges, bad memories, and heart-rending incidents, however they didn’t result in diminishing our morale.
Here are some defining and sad moments of the year 2016:
Pakistan’s Angel and Legendry Humanitarian Abdul Sattar Edhi died
Pakistan faced biggest loss in 2016 with the sad demise of legendary humanitarian Edhi. Country’s most beloved and ascetic personality Abdul Sattar Edhi left the whole nation as he passed away on 9 July 2016 at the age of 88. He was a founder of Edhi Foundation and known as ‘Angel of Mercy’ for his social work in Pakistan. Many poor, homeless, and orphans have lost a father figure. Edhi Foundation owns and runs Pakistan’s largest ambulance service, as well as nursing homes, orphanages, clinics and women’s shelters across the country. Before funeral prayers, he was given the guard of honour and the gun salute by Pakistan army.
Assassination of Qawaal Amjad Sabri
22nd June 2016 was a terrible day for the Pakistanis when Amjad Sabri was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Karachi. He was a renowned Qawwal, had a beautiful voice, and good human being. Amjad Sabri was the one of most prominent qawwali singer in South Asia. He was a son of famous Qawwal of the 1960s, Ghulam Fareed Sabri. Whatever Sabri had sung became an instant hit but ‘Bhar do jholi’, ‘Tajdar-e-Haram’, and ‘Mera koi nahi hai tere siwa’ were the famous and most memorable qawwalis.
Dreadful blast at Civil Hospital Quetta killed over 70
On 8 August 2016, Advocate Bilal Anwar Kasi the president of Baluchistan Bar Association was gunned down while leaving his home for the office. A group of lawyers was gathered to accompany the body of Kasi, the suddenly horrible bombing took place inside the hospital where at least 70 people killed and more than 50 were injured. In this sad incident, two journalists from Aaj TV and Dawn news also succumbed to injuries.
Terrorist attack at Baluchistan Police Training College killed 60 cadets
In the year 2016, Quetta has faced terrible terrorism. Two months after the Civil Hospital’s incident Quetta had met another frightful terrorist attack. On 24 October 2016 around 11:15 pm three heavily armed militants stormed a Quetta police academy while cadets were sleeping and militants opened fire in which 60 cadets were killed and 100 were injured. All three militants were also killed during an attack. It is one of the deadliest extremist attacks in 2016. The training academy is on Saryab road, which is one of the most sensitive areas of Quetta.
Fatal crash of PIA Flight 661
Pakistan had faced a very heartrending incident when the domestic flight of Pakistan International Airline (PIA) flight PK-661 crashed on the way to Islamabad from Chitral on 7 December 2016 near Havelian. There were 42 passengers and 5 crew members on board died including pop star turned evangelical cleric Junaid Jamshed and Deputy Commissioner of Chitral Osama Warraich. There were 31 men, 9 women and 2 infants on board, including three foreigners. All of the bodies were burned and the debris was scattered and ablaze on the side of the hill.
