KARACHI, Sept 27: The Majlis-i-Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) and the Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) announced on Thursday that they would stage separate protest demonstrations on Friday against targeted killings on sectarian grounds.

Speaking to journalists on Mehfil-i-Shah-i-Khorasan Road, Allama Hassan Zafar Naqvi of the MWM said that his party would observe Friday as a day of protest against the targeted killings and murders of Shias.

“In the first phase, protests will be held outside mosques after Friday prayers,” he said.

“This is the beginning of our protest campaign and if the government does not move, the protests will be expanded to throughout the country and in the final decisive phase, protest demonstrations will be staged outside the key government buildings and the US embassy.”

He said that the killings on sectarian grounds had increased following the recent peaceful protest staged outside the US consulate against the anti-Islam film made in the US.

A spokesperson for the ASWJ also came up with almost the same viewpoint and condemned the killings on sectarian grounds. He said that their organisation would also observe Friday as a protest day.

“A protest demonstration would be held outside the Markaz-i-Ahl-i-Sunnat on the main Nagan traffic intersection after Friday prayers,” he said.