Pakistan: Religious Leader Shot Dead In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

A prominent religious scholar has been shot dead by unidentified bike-borne assailants in northwest Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said on Wednesday. Qari Ejaz Abid, leader of the Ahle-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat and head of the International Khatm-e-Nabuwwat Movement, died while undergoing treatment at a hospital after he was injured in the attack at Pusht Khara area bordering the Khyber district on Monday, a police official said.

The official said Abid's companion Qari Shahidullah, who was also injured in the attack, was hospitalised. The attackers opened fire on the cleric in a suspected case of target killing, the official said, adding that multiple empty bullet shells of a 30-bore weapon were recovered from the scene.

A case has been registered under terrorism charges at the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), the official said. He said the police launched a massive search operation in the area and set up checkpoints to trace the accused.