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Prominent Cleric Shot Dead In South Pakistan


Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) Secretary General Khalid Mehmood Soomro was shot dead inside a mosque on November 29.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) Secretary General Khalid Mehmood Soomro was shot dead inside a mosque on November 29.

Police say a prominent Sunni Muslim leader from a pro-Taliban religious political party was shot dead in Pakistan's southern Sindh Province on November 29.

Khalid Mehmood Soomro, the regional leader and former lawmaker from the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) party, was offering his morning prayers when unidentified gunmen entered the mosque and shot him dead, police and party officials say.

The party says Soomro had received death threats and had been attacked six times in the past.

The killing prompted shops and businesses to close in parts of southern Sindh and small groups of party members took to the streets across Pakistan in protest.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

JUI-F has previously been targeted by the Pakistani Taliban, even though the party leaders have on several occasions acted as negotiators between the militants and the government in Islamabad.

Based on reporting by AFP and Dawn.com
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