Shia student and Sunni friend shot martyred in Karachi (Images)

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A Shia student and his Sunni friend of the University of Karachi were gunned down near Maskan Chowrangi, a few meters away from the varsity’s IBA gate, in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on Friday evening.Shiite student identified as Shadab Hussain and his Sunni friend Hamza Naushad, both 27 years old.Hussain, a resident of Ancholi, was studying mass communication while Naushad was enrolled in the economics department.SSP East Pir Muhammad Shah said that the two friends had exited the university using its IBA gate and were walking near Maskan Chowrangi when two men riding a motorcycle fired gunshots at them.The two men suffered multiple bullet wounds and were shifted to the nearby Patel Hospital where they expired.Their bodies were later shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.As the firing incident continued, more than 20 passersby including women also came under its influence and received injuries. “We are probing the possibility of the dual murder being sectarian in nature,” the SSP said.Hussain was the grandson of the imam of the Khair-ul-Amal Imambargah (Shia mourning place), Ghulam Ali Waziri.The other victim, however, was Sunni.“Therefore, we are investigating other angles too.”Dr Abdul Haq, the additional police surgeon at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, said Hussain had suffered two bullets to the chest while Hamza was shot in the face.Prof Khalid Iraqi, the KU security in-charge who visited the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, said the family and friends of the two victims staged a protest against the law enforcement agencies for their failure to prevent the killing of their loved ones.The Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen and the Shia Ulema Council condemned the murder of the two students and demanded that the authorities should arrest the killers immediately.“Yet another precious life has been lost in this spate of target killings,” the spokesperson for the Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen told The News.“We want the authorities concerned to take concrete steps for bringing the killing of Shia community members to an end.”In a statement, the Shia Ulema Council also urged the authorities to take action against those responsible for the killing of Shia community members. The council said that the killings were meant to provoke sectarian hatred and incite Muslims to fight each other, thereby destabilising the country.It said anti-state elements should not be allowed to succeed in their nefarious designs.The dual murder comes a day after eight people were gunned down in different gun attacks in Karachi. It has been three months since the law enforcement agencies launched a crackdown on criminals in the city and arrested several alleged target killers, extortionists and others involved in heinous crimes. But the menace of target killings continues to plague the city. /146-129