Gunmen kill Shia cleric in Pakistan’s Punjab
Gunmen have fatally shot a Shia religious leader in Pakistan’s most populous and eastern province of Punjab, the latest in a long line of targeted attacks against the Shia community in the country.
Security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said four men armed with assault rifles opened fire on Mazahir Naqvi, also known as Pyare Sahab, in the town of Gujranwala, located some 200 kilometers (120 miles) southeast of the capital, Islamabad, early on Friday.
Naqvi died on the spot, and the assailants fled the scene.
The news of the assassination soon spread around the town, with dozens of residents taking to the streets to express outrage over attacks targeting the Shia population in Pakistan.
Also on Friday, at least two people were killed and several others injured in a bomb attack on a Shia mosque in the southern port city of Karachi.
Local security officials said the attack targeted the Saleh mosque in Arambagh area of the city during midday prayers.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but the acts of violence bear the hallmarks of those carried out by the pro-Taliban militants.
On February 13, 22 people were killed in a gun-and-bomb attack on a Shia mosque packed with worshipers in the northeastern city of Peshawar.
More than 60 people were also wounded during the attack, for which the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist network claimed responsibility.
Also on January 30, another explosion hit a Shia mosque and religious center in southern Pakistan, killing 61 people who were performing Friday Prayers in Shikarpur district of Sindh Province. Jundallah militants claimed responsibility for the attack.
MP/HSN/SS
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