KARACHI: Two shopkeepers were shot dead in ‘sectarian attacks’ carried out in separate parts of the city on Friday, officials said.

A shopkeeper was shot dead in Nazimabad in the evening, they added.

The 34-year-old victim, Syed Kashif Hussain, was sitting at his Hasan electric shop in Nazimabad No 1, when gunmen attacked him. He sustained serious bullet wounds and was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

Rizvia Society SHO Mazhar Iqbal was not sure about the motive for the murder.

However, a spokesperson for the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen claimed that it was an act of sectarian killing.

Another shopkeeper was shot dead in Yusuf Plaza in Federal B Area earlier on Friday, the police said.

They added that 48-year-old Syed Mohsin Raza was sitting at his cooking oil shop in Block-16 when four gunmen on two motorcycles attacked him at around 11.20am.

“It appears to be an act of a sectarian attack,” Yusuf Plaza SHO Irfan Ahmed Khan said.

He sustained four bullet wounds fired from a 9mm pistol and died on the spot. The body was taken to the ASH for medico-legal formalities. The victim was a resident of F.B. Area in Block-15.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2014