Opposition lawmaker shot in southern Pakistan

AFP, KARACHI: Four attackers on motorcycles opened fire on the car of a Pakistani lawmaker on Tuesday, critically wounding him and killing his driver in an attack that raised tensions in the country's largest city Karachi.
Rashid Godil, a legislator from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) opposition party, was in his parked car at a traffic light in the eastern Bahadurabad neighbourhood when the unidentified men began firing.
"The attackers came from behind the car and opened fire, injuring Rashid Godil critically," Abid Kaimkhani, a senior police officer, told AFP. Godil's driver died in the attack, he added. Senior police officer Javed Jiskani told media that bullet casings taken from the scene matched a 9mm pistol, adding that CCTV footage was being examined.
A spokesman at the Liaquat National Hospital, where Godil was taken, said the politician was struck by five bullets to his head, jaw and chest and a team of doctors was trying to stabilise him. Senior MQM leader Haidar Abbas Rizvi said the next 48 hours would be crucial for Godil.
The shooting comes a week after members of the MQM, which dominates politics in Karachi, offered their resignations from their seats in parliament over what they described as a campaign of victimisation against them. The resignations have not yet been formally accepted by the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which is trying to get the party to reverse its decision.
The MQM has the power to shut down Karachi, Pakistan's economic hub and a city of roughly 20 million people, and its activists have been accused of using violence in the past.

Opposition lawmaker shot in southern Pakistan

AFP, KARACHI: Four attackers on motorcycles opened fire on the car of a Pakistani lawmaker on Tuesday, critically wounding him and killing his driver in an attack that raised tensions in the countrys largest city Karachi. Rashid Godil, a legislator from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) opposition party, was in his parked car at a traffic light in the eastern Bahadurabad neighbourhood when the unidentified men began firing. The attackers came from behind the car and opened fire, injuring Rashid Godil critically, Abid Kaimkhani, a senior police officer, told AFP. Godils driver died in the attack, he added. Senior police officer Javed Jiskani told media that bullet casings taken from the scene matched a 9mm pistol, adding that CCTV footage was being examined. A spokesman at the Liaquat National Hospital, where Godil was taken, said the politician was struck by five bullets to his head, jaw and chest and a team of doctors was trying to stabilise him. Senior MQM leader Haidar Abbas Rizvi said the next 48 hours would be crucial for Godil. The shooting comes a week after members of the MQM, which dominates politics in Karachi, offered their resignations from their seats in parliament over what they described as a campaign of victimisation against them. The resignations have not yet been formally accepted by the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which is trying to get the party to reverse its decision. The MQM has the power to shut down Karachi, Pakistans economic hub and a city of roughly 20 million people, and its activists have been accused of using violence in the past.