Taliban gunmen on a motorcycle killed a grocer running in Pakistan’s upcoming elections, officials say.
46-year-old Fakhrul Islam, a candidate for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a coalition partner in the outgoing government, was killed by assailants riding on a motorcycle. Pakistan’s umbrella Taliban faction has claimed responsibility for the killing.
Police said Islam was killed by assailants on two motorcycles when he left the shop that he owned with his father in Hyderabad city in southern Sindh province.
“He sustained four bullets in his head and abdomen and died on the spot,” Akhtar Hussain, a police official, told AFP news agency.
His father who was not injured, was however in “deep shock”, police said.
Islam was running for the Sindh provincial assembly in national and regional elections on May 11.
