Renowned Pakistani qawwali singer Amjad Sabri was shot dead on Wednesday in Karachi when unknown gunmen fired at his vehicle.
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Tens of thousands of mourners attended the funeral Thursday of a well-known Pakistani Sufi singer who was gunned down the day before in the port city of Karachi in an attack claimed by Islamic extremists.
“Two attackers riding a motorcycle intercepted his vehicle and targeted Amjad Sabri, who was driving”, Sindh province police chief Allah Dino Khawaja told Reuters.
He was hit by five bullets and was declared dead at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital while a companion, named as a relative was in critical condition, a hospital source said. “He was shot three times”.
Terrorists in Pakistan’s tribal areas target Sufi shrines in the country. The singer was on the way to a private TV channel program wherein he was targeted by the said attackers who came on bike.
Two men riding a motorcycle fired shots at the auto, a police officer said terming the incident as targeted killing.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the killing and ordered an investigation.
The band led by Amjad’s father, Ghulam Farid Sabri, dominated the Qawwali scene in India and Pakistan during the 1970s and 80s. This week a doctor belonging to the minority Ahmadi community was also shot dead in his clinic by gunmen.
Karachi, a metropolis of about 20 million people, is home to Pakistan’s stock exchange and central bank and is plagued by political, ethnic and sectarian violence. Then two days later, Taliban shot at the windshield of Amjad’s auto while he was driving on a congested street.
Amjad was the son of Ghulam Farid Sabri, a member of the legendary qawwali group Sabri Brothers, which referred to as Roving Ambassadors for Pakistan. “A complete failure of law and order and writ of the govt”. In a statement issued soon after the killing, Rabbani said that he hopes that the Sindh government takes steps towards locating and apprehending the suspects. “These extremists kill people whenever they want”, Sattar said.
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“I can not believe it”, Aashiq Hussain, a student at the University of Karachi, said, standing outside Sabri’s residence.
