Sectarian violence: Shia doctor gunned down in Peshawar

Eyewitnesses say three armed men entered Dr Shahnawaz Ali’s clinic and shot him dead.

PESHAWAR: In an apparent incident of sectarian violence, a Shia doctor was gunned down in Peshawar on Tuesday afternoon at his clinic in Liaqat Bazaar, Saddar.

Eyewitnesses said that they heard several gunshots minutes after three men entered Dr Shahnawaz Ali’s clinic. When they rushed to the clinic, they found him dead with a bullet wound to his head.

The attackers managed to flee after the incident.

“Our team has reached the clinic and they are inspecting the crime scene. No FIR has been registered so far,” an official of the West Cantt police station told The Express Tribune.

Dr Shah Nawaz belonged to a prominent Shia family of the walled city of Peshawar and was said to be a relative of SP Hilal Haider who was killed in a suicide attack in the Qisakhwani Bazaar last year.

In the past few months, several Shia Muslims have been targeted including Dr Riaz Hussain, a prominent Shia leader from Para Chinar Kurram Agency who was also the president of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Kurram Agency chapter.

Additional Session Judge Ihtisham Ali was also attacked but was lucky enough to escape the assassination attempt in Hayatabad, only sustaining minor injuries.