KARACHI, June 10: Parts of PIB Colony and adjoining localities roared with the sound of gunfire and two vehicles were set on fire soon after an activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was gunned down by unknown assailants early Sunday.

Six people were wounded in the firing that also spread panic and fear in the affected localities.

Police said that the activist was attacked in Nishtar Basti near old Sabzi Mandi. The victim, Sohail Hussain, 28, was busy wall-chalking, in the area when armed men riding a motorcycle fired shots at him. He received three bullets and died on the spot, they added.

The body was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where Sindh Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed and a large number of MQM workers also arrived after receiving the news about the killing.

Tension gripped parts of PIB Colony, Hassan Square, old Sabzi Mandi, University Road, Jail Road and certain other localities.

There were reports of firing in different localities which left at least six people wounded. They were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and some private hospitals.

Meanwhile, protest demonstrations were held in the affected areas against the killing of Hussain, who belonged to MQM’s Unit 58-A, PIB sector.

A rickshaw and a jeep were torched near Nishtar Basti, the police said.

Meanwhile, members of the MQM rabita committee and various units attended the fellow party worker’s funeral prayers held in Liaquatabad. Later, the activist was laid to rest in the Shuhada graveyard, Azizabad.