KARACHI, Sept 10: A young activist of the Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat was gunned down in Korangi in the early hours of Friday, the fifth member of the ASWJ who become a victim of targeted killings within a week, police and party sources said.

They said 25-year-old Yasir Iqbal was targeted outside his home in Korangi 2 ½ in Sector 41-B when he was sitting there with some friends at a corner of the street. “This is a very strange attack, because two men came in a rickshaw which stopped close to the group of friends,” said Zaman Town police station SHO Inspector Abdul Nabi.

“One of the men came out of the rickshaw and fired multiple shots at Yasir, who sustained three bullet wounds and died on the spot. He was associated with the Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat,” the police officer said.

The victim was employed with a garment factory and third among five siblings. Yasir emerged as the fifth victim belonging to the ASWJ, formerly known as the Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, who had been gunned down since Sunday. The victims included Maulana Ahsanullah Farooqi, the spokesman for the party.

“It is so unfortunate to see such irresponsibility on the part of the government and security authorities,” said a spokesman for the ASWJ.

“The government has left every common man with a feeling of insecurity, which also shows the level of failure of the government,” the spokesperson added.

Man gunned down

In another incident, a 29-year-old man was gunned down on main Abul Hasan Ispahani Road in the early hours of Friday, police officials said.

They believed that the killing was the result of some personal enmity.They said Mohammad Farooq was riding a motorbike when he was intercepted by two men on another motorcycle near a famous bakery in the area.

“One of them fired at least four shots, two of which hit Farooq,” said Sachal police station SHO Rao Zakir, quoting witnesses as saying.

“He got wounds in the chest and the head and died while being shifted to hospital. He was a resident of Metroville-II area and worked at an auto battery shop,” the police official added.

Although the police remained unable to trace the attackers, investigators said they had a reason to believe that it was a murder motivated by some personal issues.

“We have questioned a few family members of the victim and learnt that the victim had a dispute with some people over some issue. The killing might have been the result of it, but it is a little early to jump to conclusions,” said the police officer.