Shamzai was never involved in sectarian violence

KARACHI , May 30 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A top Pakistani scholar was killed by unknown attackers Sunday, May 30, prompting an instant rampage by his supporters in which almost a dozen were injured.

Six people on motorcycles and in cars opened fire on Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai as he drove out of his residence in the Binouri Town section of Pakistan 's biggest city and main port, Karachi , witnesses told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Shamzai, 70, was rushed to hospital but he died there, police said.

Three people traveling with him were injured but their wounds were not life-threatening, city police chief Tariq Jamil told AFP.

Shamzai was a vocal critic of U.S. foreign policies and had links to Afghanistan 's ousted Taliban regime.

He was among a Pakistani official delegation to Afghanistan in late 2001 to convince Taliban to deliver Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden to the U.S.

Washington blamed the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington on Al-Qaeda but there was no evidence to support the claim.

Rampage

Supporters of Shamzai, who was from the majority Sunni community, went on rampage at the news of the killing, attacking a police station in the Jamshed Quarters neighborhood, torching vehicles and snatching rifles from constables, according to AFP.

Two protestors were injured when police opened fire.

Eight policemen were hurt by stones thrown at them by the mob, while another three were injured in the attack on the police station, police said.

"Three policemen were injured when an angry mob ransacked the police station and some two to four prisoners also managed to escape from the lock-up," local police official Shah Ibne Masih told AFP.

The rioters also fired at a nearby bank, he said.

Some 15,000 paramilitary soldiers and police were deployed around the city to prevent further violence, government advisor Aftab Sheikh told AFP.

"The places of worship including Shiite mosques are being guarded, we may call in army in case the situation gets out of control," he added.

The rioters later ransacked shops outside the tomb of the founder of Pakistan , Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and ransacked the nearby Quaid-i-Azam Academy .

A leader of Pakistan 's six-party Islamic alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, criticized the government for failing to prevent such killings by providing security for its citizens, particularly vulnerable religious leaders.

"We hold the government responsible for such acts," he told AFP.

Unknown Assailants

His followers went on rampage upon hearing the news

Shamzai was traveling with his son Salimud Din, nephew Rafiud Din and a guard when his car was ambushed.

"As soon as we came out of our home, I heard the noise of firing from all directions and I tucked down," Rafiud told reporters at hospital.

"A bullet hit my leg and before I fell unconscious, I saw blood oozing out of Mufti sahib's (Shamzai) body," he said. "I do not know how many people were firing at us."

Police were also unclear how many attackers were involved or who they were.

"I cannot say at this stage how many assailants were there, but according to witnesses there were four to six people on motorcycles and cars," police chief Jamil said.

"It is an act of terrorism, we are trying to catch the culprits," he said.

Shamzai was a close associate and friend of Taliban's leader Mullah Omar who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when the regime was ousted in a U.S.-led military offensive.

Shamzai led several anti-U.S. demonstrations after Afghanistan was attacked by United States .

On Wednesday, May 26, a double car blast near the U.S. consul general's residence killed one policeman and injured 32 others a day after two people were killed in an blast at the commercial sea port.

Karachi has been in the grip of violent attacks, widely blamed on sectarian violence.

A bombing at a Shiite mosque killed 18 people and wounded some 100 earlier this month.