Lebanese party: Gunmen kill official with Islamist group

BEIRUT – An Islamist political party in Lebanon says gunmen have shot and killed one of its officials in his village in the country’s south.

The Jamaa Islamiya says Mohammed Jarrar was fatally shot on Sunday night in the village of Chebaa.

The party is the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a regional Islamist organization. It didn’t blame anyone for the killing and no group claimed responsibility.

The state-run National News Agency said Jarrar was shot with four bullets to his stomach, after which the attackers fled the scene. The agency says authorities have opened an investigation into the case.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the killing was politically-motived. Such assassinations have been rare in recent years in Lebanon.

The Jamaa Islamiya isn’t represented in parliament.