Ex-serviceman from Ahmadiyya community shot dead in Pakistan

An ex-serviceman of Pakistan Air Force from the minority Ahmadiyya community has been gunned down outside his house by unidentified gunmen in Punjab province, the latest targeted attack on the minority religious group facing persecution in the country.

The 62-year-old ex-serviceman, Latif Aalam Butt, was returning home from his stationary store yesterday when unidentified attackers fired at him outside his house in Kamra town of Attock district, killing him on the spot, Ahmadiyya community spokesman Saleem ud Din said.

Din said that the victim had no enmity against anyone and was apparently targeted for his religious views.

"The incident represented a continuation of religiously motivated violence against Ahmadis. Ahmadis are constantly on the receiving end of vicious threats and edicts of death. They are told that unless they turn away from their beliefs they will face persecution," Din said.

He demanded that the government should ban distribution of hate materials against Ahmadiyyas to stop such incidents.

Last month, a 50-year-old doctor from the minority community was gunned down at his clinic in Pakistan's Sindh province.

Ahmadis are among the most persecuted minorities in Pakistan. They consider themselves Muslim but were declared non-Muslims through a constitutional amendment in 1974. A decade later, they were barred from proselytising or identifying themselves as Muslims.

Some 1.5 million Ahmadis live across the country.