KARACHI, July 7: An intelligence officer was gunned down here on Saturday in what appeared to be part of an ongoing wave of sectarian killings in the city, police said.

They said Deputy Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) Qamar Raza was targeted in F.C. Area when he was entering his house after parking his car.

“It seems that two armed men on a motorbike were waiting for him,” said DSP Wajahat Hussain, the area’s sub-divisional police officer. “As he parked his car and moved towards his residence, one of the assailants fired shots at him before speeding away with an accomplice. Mr Raza received serious wounds and fell down.”

The 58-year-old officer, who served IB for more than 30 years, was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he died during treatment as bullet wounds in his chest and head proved fatal.

Police suspected the killing to be linked to recent targeted attacks on sectarian grounds because three workers of Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat, two of them brothers, were gunned down in the Surjani Town area earlier on Saturday.

Fear gripped parts of the city, including Surjani Town, Liaquatabad and Gulistan-i-Jauhar, after the killings.