KARACHI, Oct 6: Four people were killed and seven others wounded when unidentified men opened fire outside two Madaris in Buffer Zone, North Karachi, on Saturday.

The police and witnesses said that people were coming out of Masjid-o-Madressah Darul Uloom Rehmania in Sector 15-A/5 after Maghrib prayers when two armed motorcyclists attacked them. Seven people were wounded. Edhi ambulances and other vehicles took the victims to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where four of them were pronounced dead.

Police believed the culprits then went to Madressah Khalid bin Abdulaziz in the same locality and opened fire, leaving four people injured.

Those killed were identified as Mohammad Umer, 45; Abdur Rasheed, 12; Abdul Karim, 29; and Mohammad Riaz, 25.

The injured were: Inamur Rehman, 30; Mehboob, 21; Abdul Jalil, 20; Shah Mohammad, 20; Subhan Mehmood, 16; Emadullah, 23; and Moinuddin, 18.

Following the attacks, tension gripped the locality.

A senior police official said the firing appeared to be sectarian motivated, but added that the involvement of foreign hand could not be ruled out.