Baku-APA. Pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan have shot and killed a candidate running in the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections, APA reports quoting Press TV.
Fakhrul Islam, 46, was shot dead on Thursday in a drive-by shooting in the southern city of Hyderabad when he left the shop he owned with his father. Islam's father was not injured in the attack.
"He sustained four bullets in his head and abdomen and died on the spot," police official Akhtar Hussain said.
Islam, who was running for the Sindh provincial assembly in the May 11 elections, was a member of the Mutahhida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party.
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility for the act of violence.
The MQM accused "terrorists" of trying to disrupt a peaceful democratic process in Pakistan.
“The way he has been killed and his father remained unhurt shows the precision the killers have and also their intention to target him in particular,” party spokesman Wasay Jalil said.
“Terrorists are threatening to sabotage elections… but these terror acts will not deter us from taking part in elections and our stance against extremism and terrorism,” he added.
Pakistan's interim prime minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso has ordered the police to beef up the security of all candidates.
The Taliban have threatened to target MQM members because the Karachi-based party has strongly censured the militants.
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on TikTok
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on X
