According to sources, two people on a motorbike opened fire on Dr Kiyani when he came out of his house in Green Town on Sariab road for an evening walk.

The Baloch Liberation Army has claimed responsibility for the murder.

“Dr Kiyani received three bullets and died on the spot,” Quetta police chief Mohammad Akbar said. His body was handed over to his son after autopsy at the civil hospital.

A case had been registered and investigation was in progress, police said.

A spokesman for the banned BLA said his organisation was behind the murder of Dr Kiyani. “He had been working for intelligence agencies and we had already warned him,” Beebargh Baloch told reporters in phone calls from some unspecified place.

Professor Kiyani, 60, had been associated with the teaching profession for 30 years. He had joined the Balochistan University as a lecturer in 1979.

Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi, who is also Chancellor of the university, condemned the murder and announced that all universities in the province would remain closed for three days (April 23-25) in mourning for Dr Kiyani.

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani also condemned the killing.