Gunmen in Pakistan kill local union leader

Gunmen riding a motorcycle shot and killed a local union leader outside a mosque in south-western Pakistan before fleeing the scene, police and a spokesman for the merchants union said yesterday. The assailants gunned down Allahdad Tareen as he came out of the mosque after evening prayers on Monday in the village of Pashin, in Balochistan province, according to a police official. He said that an investigation is under way. The merchants union denounced the killing and said that shops and markets would remain closed yesterday in protest in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.