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Muawiya’s murder comes three days after a Shia leader was killed in Karachi.
Shams-ur-Rehman Muawiya, Punjab chief of the Sunni supremacist Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat, was killed Friday in a drive-by shooting in Lahore.
“Two gunmen riding a motorbike opened fire on Muawiya’s vehicle, wounding him and his driver critically,” said senior police official Rana Abdul Jabbar. He said Muawiya and his driver were rushed to hospital, where the Ahl-e-Sunnat provincial chief died. “We are investigating the incident, but it apparently seems to be a target killing.” The driver remains in a critical condition.
Muawiya had been en route to the Harbanspura neighborhood when his car was attacked. An Ahl-e-Sunnat spokesman, Qasim Farooqi, confirmed the incident and said Muawiya was on his way to a meeting when the attack took place.
The shooting comes just three days after gunmen shot dead a senior Shia leader, Deedar Ali Jalbani, in Karachi.