A Pakistani opposition lawmaker was shot and wounded and his driver was killed on August 18 in the southern port city of Karachi.

The attack against Abdul Rashid Godil, a member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), occurred as sensitive political negotiations involving his party began.

The MQM dominates politics in Karachi but recently has been targeted with raids and arrests by Pakistani security forces.

On August 12, MQM lawmakers resigned from Pakistan’s parliament in protest against the operations.

The Pakistan Rangers Sindh paramilitary force says the arrested MQM activists are suspects in murder cases and have ties to organized crime.

Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar says the Karachi operation is apolitical, indiscriminate, and “free of any compromise and pressure.”

Based on reporting AFP and Dawn