KARACHI: Raza Haider, MQM leader and member Sindh Assembly, and his guard have been gunned down here in Nazimabad on Monda, Geo News reported.

Unknown armed motorcyclists fired shots at Raza Haider as well as his guard when he was preparing to attend a funeral prayer at Jamia Masjid of Nazimabad Block No.2.

Raza Haider, who received a bullet in his head died when he was being rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. The guard later succumbed to his injuries while receiving medical aid at the hospital.

The MQM leader was elected from PS-94 Karachi 6.

Separate incidents of firing were reported in different parts of the city shortly after the fatal attack on MQM leader while two vehicles were set on fire in Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal.

The incident sent a wave of fear and panic across the metropolis, as shopkeepers pulled down their shutters in view of any violent reaction by enraged people.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik condemned the incident, urging the people to remain calm.

He termed the targeted killings in Karachi as a ‘latest formula’ being used to destabilize the country.

Rehman Malik urged MQM leaders to wait for investigation and called upon the people to observe restraint.

He said he would soon hold a meeting with MQM leaders.

MQM leaders Babar Ghauri and Haider Abbas Rizvi expressed profound grief on the tragic incident.

“It would be difficult to put a cap on the chapter opened (today),” Babar Ghauri asserted.