Three transgender women were shot and killed on the outskirts of Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, this weekend, local police confirmed on Monday.

The victims, whose bodies were found on a roadside on Sunday, appeared to have been shot at close range, and were later buried in a local graveyard.

Ordering a probe into the shooting, Murad Ali Shah, chief minister of Pakistan's southeastern Sindh province, said "transgender [people] are an oppressed section of society," adding: "We must all give them dignity and respect."

Pakistan: Second attack on transgender people in one week

Police said the precise motive behind the murders was unclear, but the incident comes just days after another transgender woman was seriously injured in a knife attack at Karachi's popular Sea View Beach.

"These back-to-back tragedies show that the community is being systematically targeted," said Pakistan's Gender Interactive Alliance in a statement, demanding immediate arrests, a dedicated police protection unit for transgender people and greater solidarity from the general public.

"This is not just about individual killings; it is an attempt to terrorize and silence an entire community."

"When hate speech and campaigns are carried out so openly, outcomes like this are inevitable," Shahzadi Rai, a trans activist and government-appointed local councilor in Karachi, told the French AFP news agency.

"Even though the state and police are on our side, killings are still occurring, which indicates that deep-rooted hatred against transgender people persists in our society."

Karachi: Transgender community protests

On Sunday, members of Pakistan's transgender community staged a protest outside Karachi's state-run Jinnah Hospital, where the bodies underwent autopsies. The protesters warned of nationwide demonstrations if the killers were not brought to justice.

"If the police fail to identify the killers, we will announce a countrywide protest," transgender rights activist Bindiya Rana told the Associated Press, lamenting that such targeted violence "is not new; it is deeply embedded in our society."

Pakistan's landmark passing of a Transgender Rights Act in 2018 was regarded as a progressive move, lauded around the world for the protections it granted the community.

But religious groups in the country said it was against Islamic law, calling it "a conspiracy to destroy our family system." Key provisions of the act were later revoked by a sharia court.

Edited by: Karl Sexton