Mob beats to death man from persecuted Pakistan minority

Mob violence against Ahmadiyya minority in Karachi, Pakistan, highlights ongoing persecution and threats faced by the community.

A mob beat to death a member of Pakistan's persecuted Ahmadiyya minority on Friday (April 18, 2025) after hundreds of radical Islamists surrounded their place of worship in the port city of Karachi, police said.

A mob, many from the anti-blasphemy political group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), stormed through narrow streets of Saddar neighbourhood chanting slogans, enraged that Ahmadis were allegedly offering Friday prayers.

“One member of the community was killed after the mob identified him as an Ahmadi. They attacked him with sticks and bricks,” Muhammad Safdar, a senior local police official in the port city of Karachi where the incident happened.

"The mob included members of several religious parties," he told AFP.

Mr. Safdar said police took around 25 Ahmadis into custody for their safety.

An AFP journalist at the scene saw a prison van escorted by police vehicles take the Ahmadi men away, after negotiating with the 600-strong chanting mob.

The Ahmadiyya community are considered heretics by the Pakistani government and have been persecuted for decades, but threats and intimidation have intensified in recent years.