Pakistan: Man killed, minor injured in ‘targeted attack’ in Karachi

ISLAMABAD: A young man was shot dead and a seminary student injured in what the police called a targeted attack in the Samanabad area of Pakistan’s Karachi on Saturday, Pakistan-based Dawn reported citing police and rescuers.

They said some armed men shot at and injured Qaiser Farooq (30) and Farooq Shakir (10) at Gulshan-i-Umar seminary near Edhi Centre and escaped from the spot, Dawn reported.

Samanabad SHO Irshad Ahmed Soomro said the injured persons were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where Qaiser Farooq died during treatment. Farooq had received a bullet injured in the back and Shakir had suffered bullet injuries in the face.

He further said Shakir was a student of the said seminary and was passing through the area when the armed men opened fire. Central SSP Faisal Abdullah Chachar said that it appeared to be a targeted killing as nothing was snatched from the victims.

Meanwhile, two men were killed Gulshan-e-Hadeed area of Karachi on Saturday, according to police. Steel Town police SHO Salim Rind said that two armed men riding a motorbike reached at an estate agency near Shehbaz petrol pump, Dawn reported.

One of the armed men disembarked from the bike while the other stayed there. The gunman entered the agency shook hands with Zawar Husain and opened fire on him, Dawn reported.

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The armed man also opened fire at another person Athar Jokhio, who was merely sitting there apparently to avoid being identified. The police said that some personal enmity was behind the twin murder.

Karachi has been witnessing an increase in high-profile ‘target killings’ and it has now emerged as a formidable challenge for the police and the Counter Terrorism Department (CPD), The Express Tribune reported.

In the past few months, the use of new and previously unseen weaponry has been witnessed, sparking concerns over street crime and target killings, according to The Express Tribune. Distinctive shell casings recovered from the site of these incidents have not matched with those found at earlier crime scenes, which has further deepened the mystery.

A special CTD task force has been formed to stop arms smuggling. However, tangible success has remained elusive.

A widespread network facilitating the illegal sale and transport of firearms in Karachi continues to remain unchecked, according to The Express Tribune.

With the local law enforcement agencies not being able to stop such crimes, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has taken it upon itself to probe high-profile target killings independently. (ANI)