QUETTA, Aug 21 Allama Maqsood Ali Domki, the chief of the Jaffaria Alliance of Balochistan narrowly escaped an attempt on his life by a group of gunmen on Friday. One of the attackers was shot dead by Allama Domki's guards.“The bearded young man killed by the guards was holding a grenade and he wanted to attack Allama Domki's vehicle,” a witness told Dawn.

The assailant was identified as Hafiz Khalid Hussan Bangulzai of Kashmirabad area of Quetta and he possessed a cellphone and two SIM cards.

Police officials believe that he might be linked with an outlawed sectarian organisation.

Allama Domki was going home after attending Friday prayers at Imambargah Kalain and addressing a protest meeting against target killings when the gunmen on two motorcycles opened fire on his vehicle in a street off the Mecongi Road. The driver accelerated the car and security guards returned fire.

At that time, another man standing nearby tried to attack the vehicle with a grenade, but he was killed.

Police and Frontier Corps personnel arrived at the place soon after the attack and started investigation.

Addressing a press conference later, Allama Domki said that the government knew the people responsible for target killings. He demanded immediate arrest of the culprits who had attacked him.

He said hundreds of innocent people had been killed in sectarian attacks in Quetta over the past few years, but the government had failed to arrest the killers.

“I think that today's attack was carried out by the same banned outfits — Lashkar-i-Janghvi and Sipah-i-Sahaba — which were involved in killing hundreds of innocent people in Quetta and other areas of Balochistan,” he said.