JUI-S leader, two associates killed in Karachi

KARACHI: Eight persons, including a senior leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Sami-ul-Haq), along with two associates, and three workers of a private television channel were killed in two separate incidents of terrorism on the roads of Karachi on Friday evening.
In the first incident, a senior leader of JUI-S Mufti Usman Yar Khan was killed along with his two associates on Friday evening near the Lal Qila restaurant on Sharae-e-Faisal when armed men on motorcycles showered his car with bullets, police and family members of the deceased said.Mufti Usman Yar Khan, 50, was the son of a well-known religious figure Mufti Asfandyar Khan and was serving as the deputy administrator of a large and reputed religious seminary Jamia Darul Khair in Gulistan Jauhar. He was returning to the seminary after attending a religious conference when he was targeted by armed men, who used 9mm and TT pistols in the attack.
The ferocity of the attack stunned the residents of the city. Not only that, the fact that it was the rush hour and the location was Karachi’s busiest artery near Karsaz spoke volumes about the killers.
“Three persons were brought dead to the emergency of JPMC, including Mufti Usman, Muhammad Rafiq and Muhammad Ali, while the fourth person identified as Saad Iqbal was seriously injured and is undergoing treatment,” In-charge Emergency Department of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Dr Seemi Jamali said.
Dr Jamali said Mufti Usman and the two other deceased received several bullet wounds in different parts of the body, including chest, and probably died on the spot or on their way to hospital. The injured was also hit multiple times and his condition was serious.
Meanwhile, SP Gulshan-e-Iqbal Muqaddas Haider told The News that the incident of terrorism took place in the remit of Bahadurabad police when at least four men on two motorcycles approached a car (No AXU-054) and fired over two dozen bullets on its occupants.
“Three persons,

including Mufti Usman Yar Khan, his driver Muhammad Iqbal and another person Muhammad Ali were killed while Saad Iqbal was injured in the incident,” he said.SP Haider confirmed that 9mm and TT pistols were used in the attack and the police had found 20 empty casings of bullets fired on the occupants of the car.
The younger brother of slain Mufti, Ahmed Yar Khan, said it was a targeted attack on Mufti Usman and termed the killing as part of the ongoing killing spree of religious figures and Ulema in Pakistan.
In the second incident of terrorism, three workers of a private news television channel were killed by armed men near the Board of Secondary Education, Karachi, (BSEK) in North Nazimabad area of the city, police said.
It was reported that three to four armed men approached a stationary DSNG van of Express News near the Matriculation Board office signal and fired multiple shots on the television news crew, killing three of them instantly.
“We suspect that weapons fitted with silencers were used in the shooting as several people were present on the scene of the incident but none of them heard any gunshot. At least three workers of a private news channel, including the van driver, a guard and a technician have expired,” SSP Central Amir Farooqi told newsmen.
He said it was an incident of terrorism where professional killers carried out the massacre of the news crew and added that the police had found at least 30 empty casings of bullets fired from 30 calibre pistols.
The deceased were identified as Waqas Aziz, driver Khalid Khan and guard Ashraf, whose ages were between 25 to 30 years, police and hospital sources said.A cameraman of the private news channel, who was identified as Mehtab, survived the attack and took the workers of his organisation to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) where they were pronounced dead.
Additional Police Surgeon at the ASH Dr Abdul Haq said the victims were shot in the heads and chest from a very close range and they were brought dead to the hospital.Earlier, two more people were gunned down in the city. Ghulam Akber, 30, was shot dead in the Federal B Area while Naeem alias Burda was killed near Katti Pahari in Qasba Colony.
Meanwhile, the Sindh government has announced Rs2 million for any person providing information leading to the arrest of terrorists involved in the two incidents. The chief minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, condemned both the incidents and sought a report in this regard from the inspector general police, Sindh.
APP adds: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has strongly condemned the firing on a DSNG van of a private TV channel. The prime minister expressed his deep grief and shock over the loss of precious lives in the firing incident. Information Minister Senator Pervaiz Rashid also condemned the attack.