KARACHI: A candidate for the upcoming elections belonging to the Awami National Party (ANP) was shot dead by Taliban militants on Friday in Karachi's Korangi area, DawnNews reported.
Election was postponed in NA-254 constituency of Karachi after the incident.
The elections had already been postponed in two other constituencies after similar targeted attacks against Muttahida Qaumi Movement's (MQM) provincial candidate from Hyderabad's PS-47 constituency and in PB-32 constituency of Jhal Magsi area in Balochistan after an independent Abdul Fateh Magsi was gunned down by unknown militants.
Spokesperson for the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Ehsanullah Ehsan, told Dawn.com from an undisclosed location that the militant organisation was behind the attack on ANP's Sadiq Zaman Khattak in Karachi.
Ehsan added that the attack was in continuation to the TTP's earlier announcement of targeting the secularist parties, namely the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and ANP.
Spokesperson for the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Ehsanullah Ehsan, told Dawn.com from an undisclosed location that the militant organisation was behind the attack on ANP's Sadiq Zaman Khattak in Karachi.
Ehsan added that the attack was in continuation to the TTP's earlier announcement of targeting the secularist parties, namely the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), MQM and ANP.
The candidate, Sadiq Zaman Khattak, was contesting elections from Karachi's NA-254 constituency and was shot to death by unknown gunmen near a mosque in Bilal colony area in Korangi area.
Moreover four other persons, including two children were also injured in the attack. The son of Sadiq Khattak, who was also injured in the attack, succumbed to his injuries.
“He was returning from a mosque after saying his Friday prayers with his three-year-old son when gunmen on a motorbike opened fire. Both were killed,” senior police officer Imran Shaukat told AFP.
Fear and panic gripped the area and markets and businesses in the vicinity closed down after the incident.
In another incident a worker of the MQM was killed and two other persons were injured in a gunfiring incident in Paposh area of Karachi.
— Zahir Shah Sherazi contributed to the reporting of this story.