A candidate in Pakistan’s upcoming elections has been gunned down in a drive-by shooting in the southern city of Hyderabad.



Fakhrul Islam, a 46-year-old ethnic Pushtun member of the Mutahhida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Party, was shot by gunmen on motorcycles on the outskirts of Hyderabad on April 11.



A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said his group was behind the killing of Islam.



Militants from the Pakistani Taliban have threatened the main secular parties, including the MQM, for the political parties' criticism of Islamic insurgents.



Ehsan vowed that the militants would continue to target candidates from those parties.



Pakistani interim Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso ordered an immediate tightening of security for all candidates in the May 11 general election.



Based on reporting by AFP and dpa