KARACHI (Reuters) -A mob attacked a place of worship of Pakistan’s Ahmadi minority community in Karachi on Friday, killing one man, police and a community spokesperson said.
Ahmadi community spokesperson Amir Mahmood said the mob of 100-200 people beat a 47-year-old owner of a car workshop to death with bricks and sticks. Mohammad Safdar, superintendent of police for Karachi’s Saddar area, confirmed the death.
Safdar told Reuters that the mob was later dispersed, allowing 15 people trapped inside the building to be rescued. Mahmood said 30 people had been trapped.
Ahmadis are a minority group considered heretical by some orthodox Muslims. Pakistani law forbids them from calling themselves Muslims or using Islamic symbols, and they face violence, discrimination and impediments blocking them from voting in general elections.
(Reporting by Ariba Shahid in KarachiAdditional reporting by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore)
