Target killing: BNP leader shot dead in Khuzdar

QUETTA: A senior leader of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) Abdul Latif Shahwani and a passer-by were killed in an incident of firing in Khuzdar district, some 300 km off Quetta, on Sunday.

According to the police, central leader of BNP Abdul Latif Shahwani was on his motorcycle when unidentified assailants opened fire on him on Masjid Road of Khuzdar district. He received multiple bullet wounds on his upper torso and died on the spot, while a 12-year-old passer-by also sustained bullet injuries. The attackers managed to escape from the scene.

The body of the BNP leader and the injured were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital Khuzdar, where the boy – Abdul Samad – succumbed to his injuries. Police officials and a score of BNP activists rushed to the hospital. “It could be a case of targeted killing. The police have launched a manhunt in the area,” a senior police officer told The Express Tribune. BNP condemned the killing and called for a shutter-down strike in Khuzdar district on Monday and announced three days of mourning.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2010.