Islamabad: Pakistan's sectarian violence took a turn for worse on October 6 when suspected Shia militants gunned down the chief of the banned Sunni extremist organisation Sipah-e-Sahaba, Maulana Azam Tariq, and four of his associates.

Tariq, who won last year's National Assembly polls as an independent from prison and later became a supporter of Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, was ambushed on the Kashmir Highway while he was driving down to attend the National Assembly session from his home constituency of Jhang.

The assailants, riding a Pajero, intercepted his car and sprayed it with bullets killing Tariq and his associates on the spot. His death was announced by Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat in the National Assembly, which was then prorogued as a mark of respect.

PTI