A Keighley man is mourning the loss of a young “bright” relative who died while praying in a mosque attacked by militants in Lahore, Pakistan.

Mujeeb Rahman, from Shann Avenue, in Keighley, said his 25-year-old nephew Shahid Shaffi — a clothes store owner — was among around 80 people gunned down in co-ordinated attacks on two mosques in Lahore on Friday.

Three militants are said to have fired guns and thrown grenades at worshippers before blowing themselves up in escalating violence against Ahmadiyya Muslims by Sunni militant groups who consider them to be infidels.

Mr Rahman, the external affairs secretary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Keighley, condemned the Pakistani Government for failing to protect its citizens and not taking a strong enough stance against the militants.

He said: “Shahid had phoned his mother after the attacks began to say he was safe but then he must have been killed shortly after that.

“We think he must have been the victim of a grenade because his head wounds were so bad that he was barely recognisable.

“We are all very sad, these are very difficult times.

“Shahid was a nice young man who worked to provide money for his younger brothers and sisters.”

Mr Rahman said the Pakistani Government must repeal the law that decrees Ahmadis as non-Muslims for the discrimination and violence to end. “We have never acted aggressively and we never will, we are a peaceful community who believe in love for all, hatred for none,” he said.