KARACHI: Three persons were shot at and wounded in an armed attack on a corner meeting of a Pakistan Peoples Party candidate in the Quaidabad area on Friday evening, police and party officials said.

Malir SSP Tariq Mastoi said in a statement that unknown persons opened fire at the corner meeting of PPP’s Agha Rafiullah, who is contesting elections on a National Assembly seat (NA-230) in the metropolis, in Gulshan-i-Buner, resulting in bullet injuries to two persons.

However, Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said three persons were brought to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre with gunshot wounds.

The SSP added that the candidate was leaving the meeting when shots were fired. “Agha Rafiullah remained unhurt in the attack. We are investigating the incident,” he said.

Later, Agha Rafiullah told Dawn that first some persons threw rocks on the participants of the corner meeting and then shots were fired. A total of four persons were hurt and two of them sustained bullet wounds, he added.

He said Gulshan-i-Buner remained a sensitive locality in the constituency due to the reported presence of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). However, he said it appeared that the motive of the attackers was to disturb his election-related activity.

The police surgeon said that the wounded victims were identified as 12-year-old Sheeraz who suffered a bullet wound in the abdomen, his father Amir Rasool, 50, who was hit by a bullet in the hand and Ishaq Zahid, 20, who also sustained a bullet wound in the hand.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2024