GUNNER
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MQM MPA Shot Dead
KARACHI, Aug 2, 2010 (AFP) - A Pakistani lawmaker was killed in a drive-by shooting Monday in downtown Karachi, where political and ethnic assassinations have fanned increasing tensions, officials said.
Raza Haider, 35, from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a partner in the Sindh provincial ruling coalition led by the Pakistan Peoples Party, was targeted by gunmen on two motorcycles in North Nazimabad neighbourhood.
"He had gone to attend a relative's funeral. Drive-by shooters attacked him near a mosque, injuring him and his guard seriously," police official Waqar Mallan told AFP.
"He died on his way to hospital. It is a targeted killing."
Jameel Soomro, spokesman for the Sindh provincial government, said the killing of a coalition MP was a part of a broader "conspiracy".
"The country is in the grip of natural calamities and we are fighting against terrorists. At this moment, conspirators want to destabilise Karachi, which is the financial engine of Pakistan," he said.
He did not elaborate, but accused the conspirators of trying to further ethnic tensions and trigger political violence in Karachi.
Provincial authorities have already banned public political meetings in Karachi in an effort to control intermittent waves of targeting killings.
The government has not released exact figures, but security officials say more than 125 people have died since the beginning of this year.
KARACHI, Aug 2, 2010 (AFP) - A Pakistani lawmaker was killed in a drive-by shooting Monday in downtown Karachi, where political and ethnic assassinations have fanned increasing tensions, officials said.
Raza Haider, 35, from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a partner in the Sindh provincial ruling coalition led by the Pakistan Peoples Party, was targeted by gunmen on two motorcycles in North Nazimabad neighbourhood.
"He had gone to attend a relative's funeral. Drive-by shooters attacked him near a mosque, injuring him and his guard seriously," police official Waqar Mallan told AFP.
"He died on his way to hospital. It is a targeted killing."
Jameel Soomro, spokesman for the Sindh provincial government, said the killing of a coalition MP was a part of a broader "conspiracy".
"The country is in the grip of natural calamities and we are fighting against terrorists. At this moment, conspirators want to destabilise Karachi, which is the financial engine of Pakistan," he said.
He did not elaborate, but accused the conspirators of trying to further ethnic tensions and trigger political violence in Karachi.
Provincial authorities have already banned public political meetings in Karachi in an effort to control intermittent waves of targeting killings.
The government has not released exact figures, but security officials say more than 125 people have died since the beginning of this year.