Sipah-e-Sahaba leader killed in Pakistan

KARACHI, Pakistan, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- The former leader of the Pakistani-based militant group Sipah-e-Sahaba was gunned down by unknown assailants near Karachi, local officials said.

Gunmen on motorcycles shot and killed Illyas Zubair, the former Sipah-e-Sahaba chief, and a fellow militant commander, Qari Shafiqur Rahman, Pakistan's News International reports.

Local police officials told the news agency the attackers killed Zubair "on the spot" from two gunshots to the head, while his counterpart died later in a hospital.

Authorities put the city on lockdown following the news of the death of Zubair.

Sipah-e-Sahaba is a banned outfit rallying against the spread of Shiite Islam in the region. Formerly a registered political party, the organization was listed as a terrorist entity by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in 2002.

Leaders of the group called on the government to arrest the assailants or face the consequences.

Zubair was released from prison earlier this year following an eight-year sentence.