KARACHI (AA) - Three people were killed after unknown assailants opened fire on a Tableeghi Jamaat group in the southern port city of Karachi on Tuesday, police said.
Two of the victims, who were gunned down outside a mosque in Karachi's north soon after evening prayers, were of Moroccan nationality, a senior Karachi security official told Anadolu Agency.
While no group has claimed the responsibility for the attack, police officials say sectarian motives may be at play.
Tableeghi Jamaat is an offshoot of Deobandi movement, a Sunni revivalist faction active primarily in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
The Moroccan nationals identified as Khitab and Abdul Majeed were amongst a group of six Moroccans who have been on a Tableeghi (preaching) mission in Pakistan for last few days.
“Initial investigations reveal that the attack was part of ongoing wave of sectarian violence in the metropolis," a police official involved in investigation process told AA on condition of anonymity.
“Tableeghi Jamaat seems to be the attackers' target,” he said.
Karachi, which has the highest population in Pakistan and a long history of sectarian violence between hardline Sunni and Shiite groups, has in recent months been gripped by targeted killings based on sectarian grounds.
Allama Deedar Hussein Shah, a top Shiite cleric, was shot dead along with his guard in eastern part of Karachi on Tuesday morning.
Sectarian violence along Shiite-Sunni lines has killed thousands of people in Pakistan over the last three decades.
Sunnis are numerically in majority with 85 per cent of the 180 million population. Shiites make up 10 per cent.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are often blamed for sponsoring Sunni and Shiite groups settling their scores on Pakistani soil.
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