Tag: Killing

  • Pakistani man with strong ties to Iran charged in US with attempt to carry out assassinations

    Pakistani man with strong ties to Iran charged in US with attempt to carry out assassinations

    A United States Federal court in Brooklyn has charged a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran, Asif Merchant, also known as “Asif Raza Merchant,” 46, with murder-for-hire as part of a scheme to assassinate a politician or U.S. government officials on U.S. soil, including potentially former President Donald Trump.

    Asif travelled to New York in June to meet with people he thought he was recruiting for carrying out assassinations, including paying $5,000 advance to two men, who turned out to be undercover law enforcement officers, Associated Press reported.

    He was arrested in July after he told his would-be assassins that they would get further instruction, including the targets’ identities, in August or September after he returned to Pakistan.

    “This dangerous murder-for-hire plot exposed in today’s charges allegedly was orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian playbook,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.

    The Associated Press also reported that Asif also indicated to his associate that he wanted a “political person” to be killed, mapping out on a napkin the different strategies on how the target could be killed.

    Journalist Iftikhar Firdous posted on X, “His case file on the U.S. Justice Department’s website shows that he has a wife and children both in Iran and Pakistan while he has been consistently travelling to Iran, Syria and Iraq. This would be the second incident this year where Pakistani nationals with ties to Iranian militias in the Middle East have been arrested by the FBI.”

  • Arshad Sharif’s killing not a result of mistaken identity: Kenyan High Court

    Arshad Sharif’s killing not a result of mistaken identity: Kenyan High Court

    A High Court in Kenya has ordered payment of Rs. 2 crore 17 lakh as damages to the family of slain Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif, while also declaring his assassination unconstitutional and illegal. It emphasized that his killing was not a case of mistaken identity and held those government institutions named in the petition responsible.

    The court also ordered relevant departments to initiate criminal proceedings against the two police officers involved in the shooting, ruling on the petition filed by the journalist’s wife.

    The court also found that the victim’s rights were violated by the failure of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) to prosecute two police officers for the fatal shooting. It ordered them to conclude the investigation and charge both officers, along with paying ten million local currency in interest until full payment to the petitioner.

    In 2022, Pakistani anchor and journalist Arshad Sharif was killed in Kenya on October 23. Subsequently, Kenyan police admitted that Arshad Sharif’s car was mistakenly hit by police bullets.

    Officials stated that the involved policemen were initially detained but later reinstated. Following this, Arshad Sharif’s wife Jawaria Siddique filed a petition against the involved police officers in the Kenyan court.

  • Crackdown against $23 billion black market results in attacks on custom officials

    Crackdown against $23 billion black market results in attacks on custom officials

    On Saturday, three people, including two Customs officials, were murdered in an attack near Bannu Road when unknown gunmen opened fire targeting their vehicle at the Yarak toll plaza in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    This is the second attack on Pakistan Customs officials in less than a week in Dera Ismail Khan.

    Previously on April 18, seven people, including a child, were slain in an attack out of which five were Custom officials. Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, reiterating Pakistan’s resolve to fight terrorism.

    The Khorasan Diary had reported that “Customs had tightened the noose around smuggling around this area as it was frequented by militant networks who were involved in smuggling weapons and vehicles used in attack in urban centres,” a senior customs official said.

    The special situation report of the April 18 incident was released by the Deputy Commissioner

    Moreover, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the heinous attack.

    It should be noted that Dera Ismail Khan is an infamous route for illicit trade and smuggling as there have been many instances when the authorities have foiled bids to smuggle goods including arms, Iranian fuel and more.

    (Image taken from APP report)

    As Pakistan navigates through tough economic waters, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered strict action against smugglers and urged law enforcement agencies to expedite their campaigns.

    Illicit activities such as black market and smuggling cost Pakistan $23 billion per year, according to the report by ACE Money Transfer, a UK-based company.

    Previously, the caretaker administration started the anti-smuggling drive in the country to protect the feeble foreign exchange and stop the devaluation of local currency (PKR).

    The FBR released a statement offering condolences to the victims’ families.

  • Mass shooting at Prague University by student leaves 14 dead, 25 injured

    Mass shooting at Prague University by student leaves 14 dead, 25 injured

    A 24-year-old student killed 14 people and wounded 25 at a Prague university on Thursday in the Czech Republic’s worst shooting in decades before authorities said the attacker was “eliminated”.

    The deadly violence in the city’s historic centre sparked evacuations, a massive response by heavily armed police and warnings for people to stay indoors.

    The shooting erupted at the Charles University’s Faculty of Arts, which sits near major tourist sites like the 14th-century Charles Bridge.

    “At this moment I can confirm 14 victims of the horrible crime and 25 wounded, of which 10 seriously,” police chief Martin Vondrasek told reporters after the shooting.

    All the victims were gunned down inside the building, he said. Media said at least some were the gunman’s fellow students.

    Vondrasek added the gunman, previously unknown to the police, had a “huge arsenal of weapons and ammunition” and that quick police action prevented far more serious carnage.

    Vondrasek said police started a search for the man before the mass shooting as his father had been found dead in the village of Hostoun west of Prague.

    The gunman “left for Prague saying he wanted to kill himself,” Vondrasek said. Police suggested earlier the gunman had killed his father.

    Police searched a Faculty of Arts building where the gunman was expected to show up for a lecture, but he went to the faculty’s main building nearby and they did not find him.

    “At 1359 GMT, we received the first information about shooting,” Vondrasek told reporters, adding the rapid response unit was on the scene within 12 minutes.

    “At 1420 GMT, the officers in action told us about the gunman’s motionless body,” Vondrasek said, adding unconfirmed information showed he had killed himself.

    Another murder

    Citing a probe into social media, Vondrasek said the gunman was inspired by a “similar case that happened in Russia”, without going into details.

    “At the moment, there is nothing to suggest any further imminent danger,” he added.

    Vondrasek said police believed the same gunman had also killed a young man and his two-month-old daughter in a pram during a walk in a forest on the eastern outskirts of Prague on December 15.

    The police investigation into the murder that had shocked Prague was deadlocked until evidence found in Hostoun linked the gunman with the crime.

    Vondrasek said no police officer was wounded in Thursday’s action.

    Police evacuated the building, using a concert hall across the street as a temporary refuge for the evacuees.

    Czech President Petr Pavel said he was “shocked” by the violence and expressed “deep regret and sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims”.

    Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the “lone gunman… wasted many lives of mostly young people”.

    “There is no justification for this horrendous act,” he added.

    The worst shooting since the Czech Republic emerged as an independent state in 1993 also prompted messages of support from across the world.

    US President Joe Biden sent his condolences, slamming the “senseless” shooting.

    “The president and the first lady are praying for the families who lost loved ones and everyone else who has been affected by the senseless act of violence,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

    French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed his “solidarity” with the Czech people, as did many other European leaders including European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

    ‘No other gunman’

    Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said that there was no link between the shooting and “international terrorism”.

    He added that “no other gunman has been confirmed” and called on people to follow police instructions.

    Police cordoned off the area and asked people living nearby to stay at home.

    Prague’s emergency service said on X that “a large number of ambulance units” were deployed at the faculty.

    Though mass gun violence is unusual in the Czech Republic, the nation has been rocked by some instances in recent years.

    A 63-year-old man shot seven men and a woman dead in 2015 before killing himself in a restaurant in the southeastern town of Uhersky Brod.

    In 2019, a man killed six people in the waiting room of a hospital in the eastern city of Ostrava, with another woman dying days later. The man shot himself dead about three hours after the attack.

  • Lahore: Teenage driver kills Saudi Arabia returned female medical student after hitting her car

    Lahore: Teenage driver kills Saudi Arabia returned female medical student after hitting her car

    After six of a family were killed in an accident in DHA Phase 7 at the hands of a teenaged driver, another incident has been reported where a medical student’s car got hit by a teenager. The driver was reportedly harassing the girl who had returned from Saudi Arabia. As a quarrel ensued after the collision of the two cars, the underage driver called his family who then opened fire at the victim. She was rushed to the hospital where she died.

    The unfortunate incident occurred in a private housing society in Chung Town, Lahore, on November 4. It has resurfaced as the police added murder charges in the case on Sunday. According to the police report, the girl succumbed to her injuries on Sunday. However, an eyewitness said the girl had died a week after the incident on November 12 but the police added murder sections later.

    New reports are emerging as Tazin’s relatives have appealed to the chief minister in a letter to take notice of the incident, saying the suspect was from an influential family and they were being threatened for pursuing the murder case. They also said the teenager’s family was forcing them to reconcile with them.

    According to a First Information Report (FIR), the underage driver identified, Abdur Rehman, rammed his car into another vehicle, in which the victim was travelling along with her mother and brother, which led to a quarrel. According to the police, the boy called his uncle who then opened fire.
    The female student was identified as Tazin Khan whose family had returned from Saudi Arabia for her education. She was hit with bullets in her abdomen and was shifted to a local hospital in life-threatening condition while the attackers fled the scene.

    In another report, the Chuhng Police had registered a case against the attackers for attempted murder on the complaint of her maternal uncle Rizwanul Haq. The complainant in the case told the police that the suspects had harassed the female members of his family. Consequently, the offenders killed them, Dawn reports.

    The armed men, including Sajid, his brother Amjad, and two unidentified men, ambushed their car, and opened fire at it.

    In a report filed by Azam Malik, Tazin was hit by one of the nine bullets fired by the accused family. Her father kept pleading for her to be taken to hospital but they did not let him, eyewitnesses have stated. Her father was traumatized and pressured to the level that he did not lodge a complaint, deciding instead to leave the country for the safety of his family. Abdur Rehman, the teenaged driver, is hardly 17-years-old and other members of the colony have also complained about him harassing ladies in the park previously, reported Azam. The suspects have secured a pre-arrest bail till November 28 while the police is waiting till then to arrest them. CCPO Lahore has also aimed at including section 311 which is related to maintaining the charges and punishment even if the family forgives the culprit.

    Instants of rash driving by underage drivers are increasing, especially in Lahore. Following the DHA mishap on November 11, Lahore police have registered 4,682 cases and seized hundreds of vehicles during crackdowns over the last 13 days on underage drivers, reports The News.

  • Girl forcefully married to Karachi man shot dead in upscale apartment complex

    Girl forcefully married to Karachi man shot dead in upscale apartment complex

    Karachi’s Sahil police has arrested a man on charges of killing his wife on Monday at an upscale apartment complex in DHA.

    Quratulain, also known as Ainee, 22, was reportedly killed in a mysterious shooting incident on Sunday night at Emaar Tower in DHA Phase 8. The case was registered by Quratulain’s father Zubairuddin Khan who nominated her husband Abrar Bugti as the murderer, on which police formally arrested the already locked-up culprit.

    Ainee’s father stated in the FIR that Abrar asked for Ainee’s hand in marriage but he kept declining because of the latter’s bad reputation. On October 12, Abrar came to their house with police, producing a fake Nikahnama and a court order to hand over Ainee to him as he is her lawful husband, says a report by Express Tribune.

    Khan asserted that her daughter called him multiple times from their house-help’s phone and narrated incidents of torture and abuse. The security staff of Emaar Tower called him on Sunday and informed him that Ainee has been shot. “I along with my son and brother-in-law rushed to the Jinnah Hospital and found that my daughter had died,” related the woman’s father.

    The physical examination of the girl’s body revealed that there were two bullet wounds to the head and three on the body. A murder case has been registered under section 302 against Abrar Bugti.

  • Husband kills wife in front of minor child in Swat

    Husband kills wife in front of minor child in Swat

    A man shot and killed his wife in front of her minor son at Banar Chowk in Mingora, Swat, on Tuesday.

    According to Dawn, the woman, Naila Bibi, had filed a lawsuit seeking divorce from her husband Akhtar Ali, and was going to court along with her son when Ali shot her.

    As per witnesses, Akhtar Ali had been waiting for her to cross Banar Chowk, opening fire as soon as she arrived.
    Naila Bibi died on the spot.

    The news came to light when an extremely distressing picture taken by witnesses made rounds on social media in which the young child can be seen crying beside the bleeding body of his mother.

    The police responded to the incident, arresting the shooter. An FIR has also been registered against Ali, and an investigation has begun.

    The police claim that Naila Bibi was seeking divorce as she suffered domestic violence at the hands of her husband.

  • Man sentenced to death for killing wife and suspected lover

    Man sentenced to death for killing wife and suspected lover

    A District and Sessions Judge of Khyber district, Hidayatullah Khan, sentenced twice to death a man on the charges of killing his wife and her suspected paramour. A one million fine has also been imposed on him.

    On November 14, 2020, Zaiwar Shah was charged with killing his wife and her suspected lover Muhammad Ullah. Police were informed by his neighbours that the accused had murdered his wife, who was also his cousin, and her putative boyfriend at his home.

    After that, the police opened an inquiry into the occurrence and filed a case against the accused under Sections 302 and 311.

    The deceased were between the ages of 20 and 30.

    The accused’s daughter is the only eyewitness in the case, Senior Public Prosecutor Shafiullah told the court during the trial, and she testified that her mother was slain by her father.
    The girl was later referred to the Hayatabad Women’s Crisis Centre since her life was in danger, he informed the court.

  • Shahzeb Khanzada calls out Maryam Nawaz for her ‘fascist’ tweet, says she needs to apologise

    Shahzeb Khanzada calls out Maryam Nawaz for her ‘fascist’ tweet, says she needs to apologise

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s insensitive tweet about senior journalist Arshad Sharif made headlines with people from both sides of the political divide condemning the content.

    “I don’t feel good re-tweeting this but this is a lesson for mankind that we must all imbibe,” the PML-N leader wrote in a tweet along with a photo of Arshad Sharif’s coffin at the airport.

    The original tweet, retweeted by Maryam, claimed that the anchorperson used to say Nawaz Sharif had sent her late mother back home in a parcel, adding that Arshad Sharif used to make fun of other people’s death and now his time had come.

    https://twitter.com/MaryamNSharif/status/1584836576080990208?s=20&t=8K-rN6nu7wepgsk3p-A1fw

    Twitter was ablaze with not just the public but many renowned journalists condemning the act by the PML-N leader.

    After several hours, Maryam deleted her tweet and apologised on Twitter.

    Her tweet said, “My tweet was not aimed at mocking someone but about learning our lessons from the past. I am undoing the tweet and apologise for the hurt it may have caused to the aggrieved which never was my intention. May no one ever have to go through this pain. Prayers for the bereaved family.”

    Geo News’ anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada was one of those who condemned the tweet and said that it is full of vengefulness and fascism.

    He further called out the PML-N leader and said that she needs to delete the tweet and apologise because she has hurt Arshad’s family who is still waiting for the arrival of his body.

    Senior journalist Hamid Mir also corrected Maryam Nawaz by posting an old tweet of Arshad’s in which the slain journalist had wished Kulsoom Nawaz recovery when she was ill.

  • Model Nayab Nadeem’s stepbrother confesses to murdering her for ‘honour’

    Model Nayab Nadeem’s stepbrother confesses to murdering her for ‘honour’

    Lahore police has arrested model Nayab Nadeem’s stepbrother, Muhammad Ali for allegedly killing her in the name of honour, Geo News reported. 

    Nayab, 29, was found murdered at her residence on July 11. According to the police forces, she was strangled to death after being tortured.

    During the initial investigations the suspect had confessed to murdering his stepsister, also the evidence collected from the scene of the crime confirmed his involvement.

    The police sources said that fingerprint samples from the door of the model’s residence matched with those of her stepbrother’s, indicating that he was the only one who had been at her residence that day.

    Ali was the first one to have found her body and reported the incident to the police. The suspect allegedly stripped the victim of her clothes so that police would think it was a rape-and-murder crime.

    Read More: Model Nayab Nadeem strangulated to death in Lahore