LAHORE: Gunmen shot dead a doctor from the minority Ahmadi community on Monday in Chenab Nagar town in Punjab province, officials said, the latest attack on the beleaguered group.

Mehdi Ali, a 50-year-old heart surgeon normally based in the United States, was attacked as he visited a cemetery in the town of Chenab Nagar.

“Two gunmen riding on a motorbike shot dead a cardiac surgeon, Dr Mehdi Ali outside the Ahmadi graveyard in Chenab Nagar,” local police official Ahmed Ali told news agency AFP.

He said the incident occurred early on Monday morning when the doctor was going to the graveyard with his family.

Related: Blasphemy accused Ahmadi man gunned down in Punjab

“The assailants have fled the scene. We are looking into the incident. It seems to be a targeted attack,” Ali said.

Saleem Uddin, a spokesman for the Ahmadi community, confirmed the incident and said the doctor’s family escaped the attack unharmed.

The doctor was in Pakistan on a short visit to do voluntary work at the Tahir Cardiac Hospital, a private institution that he himself helped build a few years back.

Also read: US panel urges action on Pakistan religious freedom