A doctor belonging to Pakistan's minority Ahmadi community was today gunned down by motorcycle- borne assailants in Punjab province, in the latest attack on one of the country's most persecuted groups by extremists.
Hameed Ahmad, 63, was killed when he was returning to his home in Attock district, aJamaat Ahmadiyya official told PTI.
He said two men on motorcycle intercepted Ahmad and shot him dead in district, some 300 kilometres from Lahore.
Theattackers managed to escape.
"Ahmad had been facing threats and intimidation for some time from religious extremists on account of being an Ahmadi. Over a year ago unknown assailants had thrown petrol bombs at his clinic but luckily he survived as he was not present at the time of attack," the official said.
Last week,another member of the minority community was killed in a targeted attack in Karachi. In 2014, at least three female members of the Ahmadi community, including two minors, were killed in Punjab's Gujranwala People's Colony when a mob torched several houses over alleged blasphemy.
"It seems that members of the Ahmadi community are again in the crosshairs of extremist groups. On the one hand, the authorities speak of good governance and on the other nothing is done to safeguard the rights of Ahmadis in Pakistan," said Jamaat Ahmadiyya spokesman Salimuddin.
He said hate-speeches against Ahmadis have become a matter of routine and enables tragic events like this to take place.
"The National Action Plan (NAP) was meant to crackdown on hate-crimes but it seems that this is not the case when it comes to Ahmadis. We call on the authorities to apprehend Dr Hamid Ahmad's killers as quickly as possible and send out a clear message that attacks such as this will not be tolerated and dealt with in the harshest terms," he said.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has ordered the police to arrest the culprits.
Ahmad is survived by two sons and three daughters.
