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KARACHI: A prominent cleric survived an assassination bid by motorcycle-borne gunmen on Friday that killed two guards and critically injured another cleric in Karachi, police said.
The attack came as religious scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani was heading to a mosque to lead Friday prayers.
“Allah has been gracious, he is safe,” the city’s police chief, Amir Shaikh, said, calling the attack a conspiracy to sabotage peace in Karachi and the country.
Mufti Usmani and Darul Uloom Karachi’s Maulana Amir Shahab were travelling in two cars, when at least four attackers riding on two motorcycles opened fire and fled, police said.
“They used multiple handguns,” Raja Umar Khattab, a police officer of the Counter Terrorism Department of Sindh said.
The attackers had followed the cleric’s car for some distance and carried out surveillance of his route, he added.
Officials said around 15 casings of 9mm bullets were found at the attack site. “Maulana Amir Shahab is in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the head,” Dr Seemin Jamali of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, said.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah took notice of both the incidents, and sought a report from the Karachi police chief.
Shah ordered the additional IGP Karachi to ensure the immediate arrests of the culprits. He also asked the authorities concerned to increase security in Karachi, particularly near mosques.
Crime in Karachi, from targeted killings to extortion, has fallen sharply since a campaign to rein it in began in 2013, led by Pakistan Rangers. (tribune.com.pk)
The attack came as religious scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani was heading to a mosque to lead Friday prayers.
“Allah has been gracious, he is safe,” the city’s police chief, Amir Shaikh, said, calling the attack a conspiracy to sabotage peace in Karachi and the country.
Mufti Usmani and Darul Uloom Karachi’s Maulana Amir Shahab were travelling in two cars, when at least four attackers riding on two motorcycles opened fire and fled, police said.
“They used multiple handguns,” Raja Umar Khattab, a police officer of the Counter Terrorism Department of Sindh said.
The attackers had followed the cleric’s car for some distance and carried out surveillance of his route, he added.
Officials said around 15 casings of 9mm bullets were found at the attack site. “Maulana Amir Shahab is in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the head,” Dr Seemin Jamali of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, said.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah took notice of both the incidents, and sought a report from the Karachi police chief.
Shah ordered the additional IGP Karachi to ensure the immediate arrests of the culprits. He also asked the authorities concerned to increase security in Karachi, particularly near mosques.
Crime in Karachi, from targeted killings to extortion, has fallen sharply since a campaign to rein it in began in 2013, led by Pakistan Rangers. (tribune.com.pk)
