LAHORE: Pakistani authorities in Punjab have arrested the prime suspect in the sexual assault and murder of seven-year-old Zainab Ansari.
Malik Ahmed Khan, a spokesperson for the Punjab government, told Arab News that the suspect was arrested in the central Punjab district of Pakpattan.
“We have found some initial evidence and we have reason to believe that he is the one we were looking for,” Khan said.
He added that it was a difficult job to track down the suspect because he had moved around a lot and disguised his appearance.
“He modified his look,” Khan told Arab News. “Sometimes he wore glasses, other times he shaved his beard.”
Zainab went missing in her hometown of Kasur on January 4. Her body was found in a rubbish dump on January 9.
Khan said further details about the suspect would be available once forensic tests were completed; adding that other suspects had been released after DNA tests cleared them of any involvement in the child’s murder.
The suspect has been named in various media outlets as Imran Ali, and he had reportedly been arrested earlier in the investigation, but was released after Zainab’s family said he was a “trusted” acquaintance.
“His appearance is similar to that of the person last seen with Zainab in CCTV footage,” a senior police officer in Lahore told Arab News.
Zainab’s murder caused a huge public outcry in Pakistan. She was reportedly the 12th child to have been murdered in the last year in, or around, Kasur.
The Punjab government formed a joint investigation team that interviewed around 1,100 people, many of whom had their DNA tested.
Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif also offered a reward of 10 million rupees for anyone who provided information about Zainab’s killer.
Sharif was expected to formally announce Ali’s arrest on Tuesday.
Pakistan police arrest key suspect in Zainab murder case
Pakistan police arrest key suspect in Zainab murder case
UN peacekeepers defy South Sudan military’s order to leave opposition-held town
JUBA, South Sudan: The United Nations Mission in South Sudan said Monday that it would not comply with a government order to shut down its base in Akobo, an opposition stronghold near the Ethiopian border where tens of thousands of refugees have fled.
On Friday, the South Sudanese army ordered UN peacekeepers as well as NGOs and civilians to vacate the town ahead of a planned assault.
But the mission refused to leave and said it would provide “a protective presence for civilians” in the town, adding that the safety and security of its personnel “must be fully respected at all times.”
The UN Mission said it was engaging “intensively with national, state and local stakeholders” regarding this order. “Any military operations in and around Akobo gravely endanger the safety and security of civilians,” said mission chief Anita Kiki Gbeho.
The South Sudanese government has been fighting opposition forces since a 2018 peace deal broke down about a year ago.
A dramatic escalation took place in December 2025, when opposition forces seized several government outposts in northern Jonglei. A government counter-offensive repelled their forces a month later and displaced over 280,000 people. Tens of thousands have sought refuge in Akobo, where a small contingent of UN peacekeepers is stationed.
Fearing the looming government assault on Akobo, humanitarian workers were evacuated over the weekend, and a mass exodus of the population has also begun.
Local officials contacted by the The Associated Press said fleeing civilians faced danger and widespread shortages of essential supplies. Dual Diew, the Akobo County health director, who has fled to Ethiopia, said there were 84 wounded patients at the hospital. “We have most of them with us here now,” he said, adding that they lack medicine and basic nursing equipment.
Christophe Garnier, the leader of Doctors Without Borders in South Sudan said the organization had to evacuate its staff from Akobo on Saturday and learned of the subsequent looting of its hospital and the ransacking of its office.
“People in Akobo must now either flee without protection or remain at risk of being killed, while losing access to health care and other essential services,” he said.
The three Western governments that have played a major role in the peace process — the U.S, UK, and Norway — sent a letter to President Kiir on Monday urging that the army’s evacuation order be revoked and warning of “further deaths, displacement and suffering for the South Sudanese people” if the offensive on Akobo is implemented.
