Pakistani leader's security guard killed

KARACHI, Pakistan, July 23 (UPI) -- The top security officer of Pakistani coalition leader Asif Ali Zardari was shot and killed outside his Karachi residence, police said.

Police told the Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn that Khalid Shahanshah was sprayed with bullets by gunmen in a white car Tuesday outside his home in the upscale Clifton area as he was alighting from his vehicle.

A security guard at the residence said he saw Shahanshah lying in a pool of blood. He said the victim managed to call police from his cell phone.

Shahanshah, a father of two, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital where doctors said he had been shot five times from close range.

Shahanshah was the chief security officer of Zardari, husband of slain Benazir Bhutto and chairman of the Pakistan People's Party, which leads the current coalition. The victim also was a functionary of the party.

Police have no suspects so far but a party leader told Dawn the killing was another attempt to destabilize the government.

Shahanshah also was associated with Bhutto and was with her when she was assassinated last December, the report said.