Religious scholar Salim Khatri shot dead in Karachi targeted attack

KARACHI – Unknown gunmen killed a religious scholar, Maulana Salim Khatri of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (AWJ), in what appears a targeted attack in an area of New Karachi.

This is second targeted killing in this week as Maulana Abdul Qayyum Sufi Naqshbandi of the Sunni Ulema Council was gunned down in Gulistan-e-Johar when he was returning from mosque after offering Fajr prayers.

Reports said four gunmen riding on two motorcycles shot and killed Maulana Khatri in Sector 5-E in the limits of Bilal Colony police station. A police officer told media that Maulana Khatri was pronounced dead on arrival at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. He was shot five times by the attackers, he said, adding that investigation into the murder has been launched.

Later, a large number of people held protest in Sohrab Goth where the scholar's body was taken from the hospital after medico-legal formalities. The protest was called off after police assure of action against the assailants.