ISLAMABAD: Gunmen have killed a local employee of the US Embassy in Islamabad, on Sunday, police said.

Police identified the dead employee as Iqbal Baig, saying he worked for the US Drug Enforcement Agency. They say Baig was killed early Sunday morning at his home and a motive for the attack and killing is still unclear.

The US Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Police officer Khalid Awan, who confirmed Baig’s slaying, said US Embassy security officials had visited the crime scene.

Baig belonged to the minority Shia Ismaili sect.Ismailis largely live in peace in Sunni-dominated Pakistan, though Islamic extremists in the country view Shias as heretics.

Gunmen in May shot and killed around 50 Ismailis in the southern port city of Karachi. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah had later announced the arrest of ‘well-educated militants’, who had confessed to the carnage and many other high-profile attacks in the city.

During the past decade, the number of incidents related tosectarian violence has continuously increased in the country. =DNA
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