The Islamic State-Khorasan has claimed responsibility for the killing of a well-known Sikh hakim or Unani medicine practitioner in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar on Thursday.

Sardar Satnam Singh, 45, was at his clinic when unidentified men barged into his cabin and shot him, police said. He was hit by four bullets and died instantly. The killers escaped from the scene.

In a message posted on social media late on Thursday, Islamic State-Khorasan claimed the killing of Singh.

Islamic State-Khorasan, which is based in Afghanistan, has stepped up attacks in several Afghan cities since the Taliban marched into Kabul on August 15. It claimed the deadly suicide attack at Kabul airport on August 26 that killed nearly 170 Afghans and 13 US military personnel.

Singh was a well-known member of the Sikh community and ran Dharmandar Pharmacy on Charsadda Road in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. He had lived in the city for the past 20 years.

About 15,000 Sikhs live in Peshawar, mostly in Jogan Shah neighbourhood. Most members of the Sikh minority in Peshawar are involved in petty businesses and some run pharmacies.

Several members of the minority have been targeted by terror groups and other elements in Peshawar in recent years. In 2016, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf lawmaker Soren Singh was killed in the city. Charanjit Singh, a prominent Sikh community leader, was killed by unidentified men in 2018, while television anchor Ravinder Singh was killed in the city last year.