KARACHI: Gunmen shot dead a Shia scholar in central Karachi as he travelled on a busy road yesterday, police said, in what appeared to be a sectarian attack.
Allama Taqi Hadi Naqvi, a cleric who was also an employee of the government educational board, was targeted as he returned home in a rickshaw.
Pakistan has seen a rise in sectarian violence since a number of deadly clashes between Sunni and Shia groups near the capital Islamabad in November.
“He was riding in an auto rickshaw when two riders on a motorcycle shot him,” police officer Afaq Ahmed said.
Hadi died on the spot as two of the bullets hit him in the face, Pakistan police officer said, adding that the motive appeared to be sectarian.
Pakistan is rife with sectarian violence, often perpetrated by Sunni militant groups linked to Al Qaeda and the Taliban against Shias, who make up some 20 percent of the population. AFP
