Member of banned anti-Shia outfit ASWJ killed in targeted attack in Pakistan | India News
NEW DELHI: Member of a banned anti-Shia outfit, Qari Abdul Rehman, was gunned down by unidentified assailants in Karachi’s Qaid Abad area on Sunday. Rehman, a member of the Ahl-e Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), is suspected to have fallen prey to a targeted killing, sparking fears of escalating sectarian tensions in Pakistan.
While sources pointed to sectarian conflict as the motive behind the killing, the ASWJ spokesperson, quoted by Dawn, condemned the act as terrorism.
The incident has raised concerns about the simmering sectarian divide in Pakistan, which has claimed numerous lives over the years. ASWJ emerged in 1996, following a split in the parent organisation, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan. The breakaway faction, ASWJ, pursued a political path, while the other wing, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), took up arms. Both outfits have been proscribed and classified as terrorist organisations under Pakistani law.
The CCTV footage of the attack shows the attackers wearing masks to conceal their identities while carrying out the shooting. Quaidabad police SHO Rana Khushi Mohammed was quoted by Dawn saying: “The victims were at a shop in Sherpao Colony, when armed suspects on a motorcycle arrived there. One of them disembarked from the bike and opened fire before fleeing the scene.”
The victims were transported to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where Rehman was pronounced dead, while his father Gul Rehman was admitted for treatment.
ASWJ spokesperson Umar Muawia said Rehman was the president of the party’s Sherpao faction. He termed the killing “an act of terrorism”.
