Gun-wielding motorcyclists attacked a Pakistani lawmaker in the country's largest city Tuesday, killing his driver and leaving him critically injured.

Police say that Rashid Godil, a legislator from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), was in his car waiting for a traffic light in the Bahadurabad neighborhood when the unidentified men opened fire.

"They made sure of his identity and shot him multiple times," Nasir Lodhi, a deputy police superintendent, told the Reuters news agency. "The lawmaker has sustained bullet wounds in his jaw and neck."

The driver did not survive the attack.

Led by its exiled leader, the MQM dominates politics in Karachi, where it has earned a reputation over decades for violent rivalries with other parties and criminal groups, a charge the party denies.

It remains uncertain whether the politiican would survive. Senior MQM leader Haidar Abbas Rizvi said the next 48 hours would be crucial for Godil.

As news of the shooting spread Tuesday, stores and offices in the eastern districts closed their businesses for the day; the University of Karachi postponed scheduled evening exams.

Tensions high between MQM, ruling party

The deadly attack comes a week after members of the MQM offered their resignations from parliament over what they alleged as killings and detentions of its membership.

The resignations have not yet been accepted by the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which is engaged in talks with the MQM to rejoin parliament and stabilize the security situation.

That's because the MQM has the power to shut down Karachi, an economic hub of 20 million people, and its activists have been accused of employing violence in the past.

But Tuesday's attack has cut short the reconciliation talks, with the MQM saying in a statement that its leaders would be meeting to decide their next move.

"We all think this is an intensely sad moment, that when there was momentum for political reconciliation, a member of parliament and people's representative was shot in a cowardly attack," MQM parliamentary leader Farooq Sattar told reporters.

The party denies its role in the violence and claims it has been singled out by security forces which have moved to crack down on violence in the wake of a string of deadly bombings.

Second deadly attack this week

The targeting of the MQM figure comes two days after a suicide bomber killed a senior provincial minister who had campaigned against militants.

Killed in Sunday's blast was Shuja Khanzada along with 15 people attending a meeting the north of the country.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for Khanzada's death, stating it was revenge for the killing of a militant commander.

jar/kms (AFP, Reuters)