Target killing: Baloch activist gunned down in Karachi
Faisal Mengal was an employee of a German NGO working on development projects in Balochistan.
KARACHI:
Faisal Mengal, a Baloch employee of Germany’s Hanns Seidel (HSF) Foundation was shot and killed on Saturday night in Karachi, where he was working on a project focused on Balochistan.
The 35-year-old Mengal was a programme coordinator at the HSF, an NGO that promotes democracy, peace and development and is funded by the German ministry for economic cooperation and development.
Police officials said that the victim was accompanied by a driver when two young men intercepted the car and opened fire.
“When the car was stopped, Mengal jumped out of the car and started running,” the investigation officer told The Express Tribune. The men only stopped shooting when the Baloch activist fell to the ground, he added. He also said the culprits were target killers, as they did not attempt to harm the driver.
Mengal was on his way to pick up a guest from the Beach Luxury hotel en route to Hyderabad when he was targeted. The victim was shot at least eleven times, according to medico-legal sources.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Zubair Tanoli said that the police had also received information that a girl was residing with the victim at the Days Inn hotel, adding that they were looking for the girl as well as the guest whom the deceased was going to meet.
Station House Officer Fawad Ahmed added that the investigation was in its initial stages and police were looking into all possible motives including personal enmity, business disputes and the involvement of any militant organisation or Baloch nationalist party.
WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHAHERYAR MIRZA
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2011.
Faisal Mengal, a Baloch employee of Germany’s Hanns Seidel (HSF) Foundation was shot and killed on Saturday night in Karachi, where he was working on a project focused on Balochistan.
The 35-year-old Mengal was a programme coordinator at the HSF, an NGO that promotes democracy, peace and development and is funded by the German ministry for economic cooperation and development.
Police officials said that the victim was accompanied by a driver when two young men intercepted the car and opened fire.
“When the car was stopped, Mengal jumped out of the car and started running,” the investigation officer told The Express Tribune. The men only stopped shooting when the Baloch activist fell to the ground, he added. He also said the culprits were target killers, as they did not attempt to harm the driver.
Mengal was on his way to pick up a guest from the Beach Luxury hotel en route to Hyderabad when he was targeted. The victim was shot at least eleven times, according to medico-legal sources.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Zubair Tanoli said that the police had also received information that a girl was residing with the victim at the Days Inn hotel, adding that they were looking for the girl as well as the guest whom the deceased was going to meet.
Station House Officer Fawad Ahmed added that the investigation was in its initial stages and police were looking into all possible motives including personal enmity, business disputes and the involvement of any militant organisation or Baloch nationalist party.
WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHAHERYAR MIRZA
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2011.