University Director Killed in Apparent Sectarian Attack

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Syed Shabir Hussain Shah of the University of Gujrat and his driver were gunned down while on their way to campus.

Unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle on Tuesday killed a senior director of a university along with his driver in Gujrat, Punjab.

In an apparent sectarian attack, Syed Shabir Hussain Shah, director of student affairs at the University of Gujrat, was attacked while on his way to campus. “Gunmen riding a motorbike sprayed bullets on his vehicle when he was about to reach campus in [the] morning. His driver was also killed in the attack,” said Ali Nasir Rizvi, district police chief. “At the moment, we don’t know about the number of the attackers, but the incident looks like a target killing.”

University officials said the slain director was very active in the university’s affairs. “He was a Shia by sect, and a progressive official of the campus,” said Sheikh Abdul Rashid, a spokesman for the university. Another colleague said Shah had previously received threats. “He had been threatened by unknown people in past,” a professor at the university said on condition of anonymity.

Officials suspected the attack came as retaliation for violence in Rawalpindi on Friday.