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Khalid Mehmood Soomro. — Screen grab
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KARACHI: Senior JUI-F leader Khalid Mehmood Soomro was shot dead in Sukkur on Saturday.
The early morning attack took place when Soomro, who was the secretary general for the Sindh chapter of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl), was leading prayers at a mosque attached to a madrassah in Sukkur.
Armed men entered the area and opened fire at Soomro.
Soomro was in Sukkur to participate in a conference when the attack took place in the Khosa Goth area.
His body has been shifted to a hospital.
Soomro, who held important positions in his party, hailed from Sindh's Larkana region.
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has escaped two fatal attacks on him in the recent years. Following the assassination of Soomro, the JUI-F chief said that the murder of his party's secretary general was an act of terrorism.
"The government should order and ensure a thorough investigation into the attack and punish those responsible," Fazl said.
The assassination was also condemned by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as well as Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain.
Apart from the attacks on Soomro and party chief Fazl, JUI-F leaders have been attacked, some of them fatally, during the past few years. In September this year, senior JUI-F activistMaulana Sajidullah was shot dead in Karachi's Pirabad area.
Meanwhile, in 2012, JUI-F leader and former nazim Haji Mohammad Azeem Khan was killed when gunmen attacked his pickup in Lakki Marwat.
In 2010, JUI-F leader Mir Metha Khan Jattak, who was associated with the Nasirabad district branch of his party was killed in an attack in Tambo tehsil.
Obaidullah Shaikh contributed to reporting.
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