KARACHI: Two local leaders of the Awami National Party and two activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were gunned down in district west of the city within a span of a few hours on Thursday night, police and party sources said.

The district west president of the Awami National Party was killed and an associate of his was critically wounded in an attack at his house in the Metroville area of SITE, while one of the attackers was shot dead by a police guard deputed there on Thursday night, police and party sources said.

The killing caused tension in the SITE area where enraged people took to the streets and blocked roads. Also, gunfire was heard in different areas, including Gulzar-i-Hijri, Orangi Town, Al Asif Square and Quaidabad.“Four to five suspects barged into the house, situated in Metroville No 4, where Said Ahmed Khan and his friend Bashir Ahmed were present and police constable Aurangzeb was in a guest room,” said SSP Asif Aijaz Shaikh of district west while describing the details of the attack.

He said the attackers fired at Said and Bashir and were about to escape when the constable opened fire on them, leaving one of them dead on the spot and others wounded though they managed to flee.

The victims were rushed to a nearby private hospital, where Said Khan was pronounced dead on arrival and Bashir was admitted for treatment in a critical condition.

ANP office-bearers said Bashir was a member of the party’s district committee. They quoted hospital sources as saying that he had sustained eight bullet wounds.

The SSP quoted the police constable as saying that earlier when he tried to stop the suspects asking about their identity they claimed that they were Taliban and had come to kill Said Khan.

Mr Aijaz said that the attacker, who was killed by the policeman, was between 25 and 30 years and wearing a grey shalwar kameez. He appeared to be a native of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the SSP added.

The police also claimed to have found a TT pistol in the possession of the suspected attacker.

DIG (west) Imran Yaqoob Minhas said it seemed that the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan had carried out the targeted attack.

The funeral prayers were planned to be offered at Fatima Masjid, Metroville Block 4, in the early hours of Friday. The party sources said the body of Said would be flown to Islamabad for burial in his hometown in Swat.

The ANP announced that the party would observe three-day mourning over the killing.

In the late hours of Thursday, two Muttahida Qaumi Movement activists were shot dead in Orangi Town, police said.

Forty-year-old Habibullah and 28-year-old Maqsood aka Kala Guddu were riding through Sector 11, Block 2 of Orangi Town on their motorbike when two armed men targeted them and fled, said an official at the Iqbal Market police station.

“Maqsood died on the spot and Habibullah was rushed to the nearby hospital where he died during treatment,” the official said.

Both bodies were later shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

The official said Maqsood was a resident of Islamnagar and Habibullah, a city government employee, lived in Tauheed Colony.

He added that Maqsood had a printing business. The killing heightened tension in the area and more police contingents were sent to control the situation.

Body found

The body of a young man was dumped from a fast-moving car in Murad Memon Goth in Malir on Thursday night, police said.

The victim, aged between 20 and 25 years, was clad in black shalwar kameez, said an official at the Memon Goth police station.

He added that the victim was shot in head and there were torture marks all over his body.

The police later shifted the body to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for a post-mortem examination.