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ISLAMABAD, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Three people including famous Sufi singer Amjad Sabri were killed in firing on their vehicle in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Wednesday afternoon, local media and officials said.
Urdu TV channel Abb Takk said that Sabri, his close friend and driver were killed when they were passing by Liaqatabad area of Karachi, the capital city of the country's south Sindh province.
Superintendent Police Asghar Usman said that two unknown gunmen coming on motorbike opened fire at the singer's vehicle and fled the scene.
Sabri was a Sunni singer who was famous for his Qawwalis, a form of devotional mystic music popular across south Asia.
The singer was embroiled in a controversy in 2014 when Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued a notice in a blasphemy case to him for singing a Qawwali, which mentioned religious personalities in an offensive way.
The singer's body was shifted to a nearby hospital where the doctors said that he received bullet wounds in his head, which caused his immediate death.
Police said that the attack on the singer is another incident of targeted killing, which is going on in the city since years.
The singer's family said that he was receiving threats on phone calls in which unknown people asked him to quit singing and warned him of consequences.
Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah took notice of the incident and suspended two police officers for failing to provide enough security to the singer.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
The country's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack on the singer and expressed his condolence to the bereaved family.
Celebrities, political leaders and general public condemned the singer's killing and showed disappointment over the law and order situation in the city on social networking websites including Facebook and Twitter. Enditem
