Islamabad , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- Pakistan 's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Sunday met with Shiites in Quetta who are protesting the bombing deaths of 97 people last week , Pakistani media reported . Ashraf addressed protestors who are taking part in a sit-in and have lined up the bodies of bombing victims at major intersections . He said he would meet one of the two major demands of the group , tossing out the provincial government and putting a governor in charge . However , Ashraf said he would n't implement military rule in the city but would leave it up to the governor to ask for more help -- if needed -- from paramilitary forces to try to quell the violence . It was unclear when the sit-in would end , as leaders of the protest said they will take a wait-and-see approach to the change in government . Local Shiites have also refused to bury most of the victims after a series of bombings rocked Quetta on Thursday , police official Wazir Khan Nasir said . Relatives of the deceased have sat beside the bodies in freezing temperatures over the past three days . Symbolic protests occurred in other cities , including Islamabad . Earlier , Ashraf also condemned the blasts in Quetta . `` The prime minister , while expressing his heartfelt condolences and sympathies with the bereaved families , reiterated the government 's resolve to stamp out the menace of militancy and terrorism from the country in its all shapes and manifestations , '' said a statement from his office . Not burying dead bodies immediately after death is taboo in Islam . The soul of the body is not considered to be at rest until the body is in the ground . Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province , an area regularly plagued by violence . In addition to sectarian attacks on Shiites , unrest in the province is believed to be fomented by several insurgent groups , including the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army and the Pakistani Taliban . Read more : What 's working in Pakistan . Although Balochistan is the largest province in Pakistan geographically , analysts and some locals have criticized the federal government for neglecting it , leading to instability . The Shiite community has repeatedly asked for more protection but to no avail . Last week 's string of attacks was the deadliest so far against the minority Shiite community , which has been targeted repeatedly in the past by groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi , a banned Sunni militant group . The deadliest explosions were two suicide bombings in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood known as Alamdar Road . One blast brought police , rescue workers and journalists rushing to the scene . It was swiftly followed by another explosion -- set off by a man sitting in a car with more than 100 kilograms of explosives -- that hit many of those responding to the initial attack . The double bombing , described by police as one of the worst attacks on the Shiite minority , killed 85 people and wounded about 150 . Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the Alamdar Road attacks . More on Pakistan : India and Pakistan trade accusations over Kashmir violence . Shiites , a minority sect in mainly Sunni Muslim Pakistan , face persecution from extremists . Last month , more than 20 Shiite pilgrims were killed when a car bomb detonated near the buses they were traveling in . Mir Zubair Mehmood , a Quetta police official , said the Alamdar attacks were motivated by Sunni and Shiite sectarian differences . Another blast in Quetta on Thursday struck a security checkpoint in a busy market , authorities said . A bomb planted in a car detonated as security forces entered the area , killing 12 people and wounding 45 , according Nasir , the police spokesman . Nasir blamed the attack on Baloch insurgents . A fourth bomb went off by the side of the road leading to the city 's airport , wounding three . Read more : Malala , others on front lines in fight for women . CNN 's Aliza Kassim in Atlanta and journalist Nasir Habib in Islamabad contributed to this report .
NEW : Prime minister meets with demonstrators protesting bombing deaths . NEW : He agrees to toss out local government but rules out military intervention . Two suicide bombings in a Shiite neighborhood in Quetta killed 85 on Thursday . A third attack in Quetta killed 12 ; police blame Baloch insurgents .