Quetta - Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa Saturday affirmed the journey to peace has not yet reached the desired destination of complete peace, but they are successfully nearing its achievement.

General Bajwa Bajwa said this during his visit to CMH Quetta where he enquired after the injured of the Mastung suicide blast. He also attended the funeral of Shaheed Siraj Raisani and met his family members.

The army chief expressed his deepest empathy with all the bereaved families of the Mastung blast incident. Terming Shaheed Siraj Raisani as ‘Soldier of Pakistan’, Gen Bajwa said, “We have lost a diehard, brave and patriot Pakistani who shall be remembered for his commitment and contributions to the country.” The COAS acknowledged the sacrifices of three generations of Siraj Raisani’s family.

General Bajwa said, “Our journey to peace hasn’t yet reached the desired destination of complete peace, but we are successfully nearing its achievement. We, as a nation, have stood up to the challenges of terrorism and extremism and shall defeat all inimical forces undeterred.”

Commander Southern Command Lt-Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa was also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, Siraj Raisani’s brother Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani called for formation of a ‘truth commission’ to investigate the suicide blast at the Mastung election rally. At least 131 people were martyred and over 180 others injured in the Mastung blast, one of the deadliest attacks in the country’s history.

Lashkari Raisani mourned the loss of innocent lives and condemned the country’s policymakers for failing to protect the citizens against terrorism.

Speaking to media persons in Quetta, Lashkari Raisani demanded formation of a truth commission to probe all decisions and policies made by the governments dating back to General Ziaul Haq’s era. “Those who make policies are responsible and answerable for the blood of innocent people. These terrorist attacks are a consequence of wrong policies,” he lamented. “Had the policymakers genuinely shared our grief, they would have reversed their policies. But they didn’t. We are still burying our dead.”

“I demand a truth commission, not a reconciliation commission but a truth commission, to investigate the incidents,” the grieving brother added.

Meanwhile, survivors described scenes of panic and horror as hospitals struggled to cope with scores of wounded on Saturday.

“We are still treating 110 of the wounded who were brought here,” said Civil Hospital’s official Shamim Akhtar. “Those who were seriously wounded have already been operated upon.”

Bangul Khan was metres away when the explosion occurred. “I was standing on the stage,” he told Al Jazeera from his hospital bed. “Siraj came on stage … and when he started speaking, the explosion occurred. I don’t know what happened after that.”

Khan had shrapnel from the suicide blast lodged in his leg and shoulder. At least six of his relatives were killed in the attack.

“There was no security from the government there. There were roughly 60 or 70 of [Siraj Raisani’s] personal security, one of them you can see lying here,” he says as he gestures to a nearby bed.

Israrullah, wounded in the neck and on his arms, says he was dragged to the political rally by his uncle. “I was right at the back, and the explosion took place in the centre,” he told Al Jazeera.

“There were a lot of people wounded, and I ran away. There were a lot of people killed, too, [because] the blast occurred right in the middle of the crowd.”

Jameel Ahmed, Israrullah’s uncle, was among the scores of people killed.

“There was no security, no checking. People were coming and going as they pleased ... there were security personnel there, but they were not checking anyone,” Israrullah told Al Jazeera.

“As Siraj stood up, there was a huge bang,” said student Rustam Raisani, who was part of the security arrangements and was standing on the stage behind the politician.

“I could not see anything. There was only dust and the smell of blood and burnt human flesh. I could hear voices screaming.

“I tried to get up and I saw people who were trying to run towards the gate. They were trampling on dead bodies... Everybody was screaming,” he told AFP.

The hospital was overflowing Saturday, with so many people crammed into corridors and relatives of victims sleeping on floors and in corners that it was difficult to walk through the building.

Witnesses and emergency workers have described seeing the injured piled into rickshaws in a desperate attempt to get them to hospital from the town, which has no electricity and little in the way of medical services.

In the ringing moments after the blast, survivors began to rush towards the exit, said witness Ghulam Hussain, who also spoke to AFP from his hospital bed where he was being treated for head injuries.

They were stepping on those on the floor, he saw. “It was a sort of stampede... I started to pull some of the people and scream for help.”

Luckily, he said, others from the crowd realised what he was doing and began to help him pull the wounded out of the rush.

Analysts have predicted more violence ahead of an already-tense July 25 election, which pits the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Smaller parties such as Raisani’s local Baloch outfit are also contesting polls across the country, with activists calling on the military to provide greater security at campaign events.

“(Raisani) had just begun when something hit me,” Mansoor Ahmed, a 34-year-old activist with Raisani’s party who also survived the blast, told AFP from his hospital bed.

“I could hear very faint sounds of people screaming, and (there was) blood and human flesh. It was like a bad dream.”

Another man had fallen on him when the bomb went off, he said. “When I pushed (him away)... a fountain of blood spurted out of my stomach.” After that, he says, he could not remember much.

The doctors have told him that ball bearings, which were packed into the explosives, had torn into his stomach.

Ahmed said he did not know if the dozen or so friends that he attended the rally with had lived. “The doctors said I will survive,” he told AFP. “But I am not sure. Do you think I will survive?”

Balochistan government observed a day of mourning on Saturday.