KARACHI: Eight persons, including two brothers said to be sympathisers of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, were shot dead in different parts of the city in a matter of an hour on Friday evening, police said.

They said that assailants riding a motorcycle intercepted the two brothers — Mohammad Akhlaq, 30, and Mohammad Irshad, 35 — who were also on a motorbike, near Lasbela bridge in the Gulbahar area, fired at them and rode away.

The victims suffered multiple bullet wounds and were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival, the police said.

“According to initial information available to us, the two brothers belonged to the Deoband school of thought and were said to be sympathisers of the Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan,” DIG-West Javed Odho said.

The victims were shopkeepers and the police were not immediately sure about the motive for the killings.

In another incident of drive-by shooting, two men belonging to the Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-i-Nubuwwat were shot dead on New M. A. Jinnah Road in front of the Islamia College.

The police said that the two men were going somewhere on a motorbike when assailants, also riding a motorbike, targeted them and fled.

Jamshed Quarters SP Usman Bajwa told Dawn that the victims were identified as Maulana Mohammad Ajmal, 44, and Kamal Shah, 25.

The police shifted the bodies to the Civil Hospital Karachi for medico-legal formalities.

Body found

The body of an unidentified young man was found in the old city area on Friday night.

The police said that the trussed-up body was found in a narrow lane near Sobhraj Hospital. The victim had sustained a bullet wound in the head.

Preedy DSP Zamir Abbasi said that the victim appeared to be in his mid-twenties.

The body was moved to the Civil Hospital Karachi for a post-mortem examination.

Couple found shot dead

A young girl and a man were found shot dead in mysterious circumstances in a house in the Defence area on Friday evening, police said.

They said that Waqasur Rehman had gone to the house of his relative Madiha in Defence Phase II Extension, where the shooting took place.

The police said that the bodies were found in a position that suggested that the man shot dead the girl and then committed suicide by firing a bullet to his head. But there was a strong possibility that someone else killed the couple and then tried to make it look like a suicide, they added.

A brother of the deceased girl, who was present in the house, was taken into custody for questioning, they said, adding that a pistol was also found from the crime scene.

The police were investigating the incident. The girl and the man appeared to be in their early-twenties.

Clash leaves one dead

A young man was shot dead in what was described as a clash between two groups in Mawachh Goth on Friday night.

“A man by the name of Barkat has been killed in a fight between two groups of residents in Mawachh Goth,” said the Keamari SP.

“We are investigating the incident, but initial information suggested that it was a dispute between two Baloch groups in the area.”