KARACHI, Feb 27: Nearly half a dozen men, including one said to be associated with the banned outfit of Jaish-i-Mohammad, were gunned down in the city on Wednesday, police said.

The officials added that Shabbir Khan, 34, a vegetable seller by profession and said to be associated with the banned militant group, was shot dead in a targeted attack near German Chowk in Lines Area.

The attackers riding a motorbike fired multiple shots at him before speeding away, said an official at the Brigade police station.

The police later shifted the body to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities. They quoted hospital sources as saying that he had sustained three gunshot wounds.

According to a senior police officer of the area, Lines Area has witnessed an increased number of killings on sectarian grounds in recent weeks.

‘Sectarian’ killing Earlier on Wednesday morning, a man going to drop his children to school was gunned down in North Karachi in what police suspected a sectarian attack.

The police said armed men riding a motorbike opened fire on the van of Wajid Ali, 45, near Baba Mor in Sector 2 of North Karachi and fled.

The victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died while being shifted to hospital, said an official at the Khawaja Ajmair Nagri police station.

The victim hailing from Bhakkar district in Punjab was father of three, he said.

“He was a resident of Surjani Town and was going to drop his children to school when he was attacked,” said North Karachi SP Syed Salman Hussain.

“Apparently the killing seems to have a sectarian motive,” the SP added.

Guard shot dead Another resident of Surjani Town was gunned down shortly after he alighted from a bus in Sector L-1, police said.

They added that Khalid Hussain, 32, was returning home after duty hours when armed men riding a motorcycle shot at him and escaped.

Surjani Town SHO Ejaz Rajpar said the victim was a security guard.

One killed at Haleem shop A security guard at a popular eatery in Federal B Area was killed and a customer was wounded in a gun attack on Wednesday, police said.

They added armed men riding a motorcycle pulled up at Mazedar Haleem, situated in Block 18, and fired at the recently hired guard, Ashraf Khan, 40. In the firing, a customer, Asif, also sustained a gunshot wound.

The victims were taken to hospital, where the guard was pronounced dead on arrival, the police said.

The police investigators said the deceased hailing from Bannu had been hired only a week ago. He used to sleep at the shop, they said.  They obtained footage of a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera showing that two men riding a motorcycle passed by the shop and then returned before opening fire.

The police suspected that the killing could be related to some extortion threat or the result of personal enmity.

Man found shot dead A 50-year-old man was found shot dead in Mauripur, police said.

They added that the body bearing a gunshot wound and torture marks, was found in Rais Goth. The police shifted the body to the Civil Hospital Karachi for medico-legal formalities.

The body was later taken to the Edhi morgue for want of identification.

It appeared that the he had been kidnapped before being murdered, the police said.