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Pakistani Rights Activist Shot Dead


Khurram Zaki was killed in Karachi
Khurram Zaki was killed in Karachi

Pakistani police said on May 8 that unknown gunmen riding motorcycles have shot and killed a prominent rights activist and injured two others in the southern city of Karachi.

Khurram Zaki was attacked late on May 7 at a roadside restaurant, where he was dining with a friend, police said. The friend and a bystander were critically injured in the attack.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.

Zaki, a former journalist, was the editor of the website and a popular Facebook page, Let Us Build Pakistan, which claimed to "spread liberal religious views and condemned extremism in all forms."

Zaki was best known for helping lead a campaign against Abdul Aziz, the cleric of the controversial Lal Masjid or Red Mosque in the capital, Islamabad, a bastion of Islamic extremists.

The campaigners filed a court case charging the cleric with incitement against the country's Shi'ite minority, which are often the target of deadly attacks.

Based on reporting by AP and dawn.com

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