Sectarian attack: Gunmen kill Shia judge, two others in Quetta
Gunmen were waiting for him at a railway crossing, say police officials.
QUETTA:
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Shia Muslim judge along with his driver and police bodyguard on Saryab Road, Thursday, in a suspected sectarian attack, police said.
The incident took place in Quetta, the capital of the oil and gas rich province of Baluchistan, as Zulfiqar Naqvi was travelling to his office.
"Gunmen were waiting for him at a railway crossing, the moment the car slowed down, the assailants sprayed bullets and fled," senior police officer Wazir Khan Nasir told AFP.
"The target of the attack was the judge and it appeared to be a sectarian incident."
Khalid Mazoor, another senior police officer, confirmed the killings and added the gunmen were riding a motorbike.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack but Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has been a flashpoint for violence between majority Sunni and Shia, who make up around 20 percent of the population.
Sectarian conflict has left thousands of people dead since the late 1980s, and the province also suffers Taliban attacks and a separatist insurgency.
Baloch rebels rose up in 2004, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region's oil, gas and mineral resources.
Bomb blasts and attacks on police and security forces are frequent in the province, which is one of the most deprived areas of Pakistan.
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Shia Muslim judge along with his driver and police bodyguard on Saryab Road, Thursday, in a suspected sectarian attack, police said.
The incident took place in Quetta, the capital of the oil and gas rich province of Baluchistan, as Zulfiqar Naqvi was travelling to his office.
"Gunmen were waiting for him at a railway crossing, the moment the car slowed down, the assailants sprayed bullets and fled," senior police officer Wazir Khan Nasir told AFP.
"The target of the attack was the judge and it appeared to be a sectarian incident."
Khalid Mazoor, another senior police officer, confirmed the killings and added the gunmen were riding a motorbike.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack but Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has been a flashpoint for violence between majority Sunni and Shia, who make up around 20 percent of the population.
Sectarian conflict has left thousands of people dead since the late 1980s, and the province also suffers Taliban attacks and a separatist insurgency.
Baloch rebels rose up in 2004, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region's oil, gas and mineral resources.
Bomb blasts and attacks on police and security forces are frequent in the province, which is one of the most deprived areas of Pakistan.