Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi on Saturday said that no one will be given any concessions when it comes to the National Action Plan (NAP).

"We will fully implement NAP and no terrorist will be spared — no matter which organisation they belong to," Zaidi said while speaking to the media at Hazarganji in Quetta, Balochistan, where he had gone to condole with the victims of yesterday's bombing.

"Yesterday's attack is strongly condemned and the federal government will fully cooperate with the Balochistan government in any way necessary," he said while speaking about the terrorist attack, which left 20 people dead in Hazarganji bazaar yesterday.

"Terrorism has no religion, it has no faith. People who conduct such heinous acts are just terrorists," he said, while adding that he believes that people who carry out such acts are mentally unstable. "Anyone in their right mind would not go around killing people or making plans to kill people."

"Terrorism can be eliminated through education. We will have to improve the state of health, education and security in the country, or development will not be possible in the country," he added.

Zaidi further said that to fix the country, its financial model needs to be fixed first, "in the eyes of the world we are a country that has security [issues], we need to change that and show the world that we are a state that has economic prosperity."

The Hazara community has been staging a sit-in in Quetta since yesterday. Members of the community demand that they be provided protection and attacks against them come to an end.

Qadir Nayil, a Hazara community leader, asked the government for provision of better protection.

"Once again our people were the target and once again we will have to bury our dear ones," he said.

Read more: The graveyard where the Hazaras of Quetta celebrate life

"We demand more security from the government and all those involved in today's act of terrorism should be found and punished."

Violence against Hazaras

Hazaras are disproportionately targeted by sectarian violence as they are easily identifiable due to their distinctive physical appearance. Nearly half a million Hazaras have settled here since fleeing Afghanistan to escape violence in their homeland during the past four decades.

Read more: Targeted killing of Hazaras

A report released by the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) last year stated that 509 members of Hazara community were killed and 627 injured in various incidents of terrorism in Quetta from January 2012 to Dec 2017.

NCHR official Fazeela Alyani had earlier said that all these lives were lost in Quetta. According to the NCHR, targeted killings, suicide attacks, and bomb blasts have inflicted harm to daily life, education, and business activities of ethnic Hazara community members in Balochistan's largest city.

Alyani had also explained that the fear and intimidation forced Hazaras to migrate to foreign countries, while target killings forced Hazara students to abandon their studies.

Balochistan has seen at least three others blasts in different areas over the last month, with varying targets.

Four policemen were targeted in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Quetta, while an IED blast targeting a passenger train in Balochistan's Dera Murad Jamali killed four people.

At least two people were killed and 11 others injured in a bomb blast in a Panjgur bazaar.