Police officer gunned down in Quetta

Malik Mushtaq was offering evening prayers when three assailants targeted him inside a mosque in Chaman Patak area

QUETTA: Unidentified militants shot dead a senior police official in Quetta on Monday.

Former SHO Malik Mushtaq, presently associated with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), was offering evening prayers when three unidentified assailants entered a mosque in Chaman Patak and opened fire on him, police sources told The Express Tribune.

“Mushtaq died on the spot after receiving several bullets in his chest,” sources added.



Meanwhile, eyewitnesses said Mushtaq was performing Asr prayers when armed men opened fire on him.

“He was performing the last prostration of evening prayers when he was targeted in the mosque.”

Police rushed to the spot soon after the incident and cordoned the area while the deceased was shifted to the Civil Hospital Quetta.

“The victim received as many as five bullets in his upper torso which is the cause of his death,” hospital sources said.

No group has claimed responsibility of the attack.

Balochistan is home to local insurgent groups who frequently carry out targeted attacks on security forces and government installations.

Over 35 police personnel have been killed in several cases of targeted killings and bomb blasts in the provincial capital since January 2016.