A transgender woman was shot and killed by unidentified men in Peshawar's Cantonment area on Sunday, police said.

An unknown number of armed assailants opened fire at the transgender woman in a room in Khyber Supermarket and fled the scene of the crime.

A policeman at the Gulberg police station told DawnNews that the victim had received three bullet wounds and was shifted to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) for treatment.

An LRH spokesperson said that the transgender woman was brought to the hospital in critical condition. "After receiving her, doctors shifted the injured to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and provided treatment," Asim Khan said, adding that the victim succumbed to her injuries in the ICU.

Khan said her body was then shifted to Khyber Medical College for a post-mortem examination.

Soon after the firing incident, members of the transgender community reached LRH and demanded the arrest of the killers.

Gulberg police said a search operation has been launched to arrest the suspects. Currently, however, police are clueless about the number of assailants.

A police official at the Gulberg thana said that according to initial and unconfirmed reports, it was suggested that the killer was a friend of the victim. An investigation is underway.