MULTAN: Authorities in Pakistan have arrested more than a dozen counter-terrorism officers after police shot and killed a middle-aged couple, their 13-year-old daughter and another man in what they initially claimed was a shootout with insurgents, officials said Sunday.
The police killed grocery store owner Mohammad Khalil, his wife Nabila, their daughter Areeba and a family friend, Zeeshan Javed, after stopping their vehicle late Saturday. Police said Javed was a wanted terrorist and initially accused him of using the others as human shields.
Family members and witnesses say police killed the four in cold blood. They say police rear-ended the vehicle to stop it after a car chase. The police then removed three small children from the vehicle before opening fire, killing everyone inside, according to the witnesses. Video footage shot by a bystander and aired by Pakistani media appears to support the witnesses' accounts. No weapons were found at the scene.
The shooting sparked widespread outrage, with hundreds of mourners gathering in the eastern city of Lahore, where the victims of the shooting lived, and chanting against the police. Area residents left the bodies in the road as a form of protest following Saturday's shooting, which took place in the nearby town of Sahiwal.
Authorities say they have launched an investigation and arrested 16 officers involved in the shooting.
Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted that he was "shocked at seeing the traumatized children who saw their parents shot before their eyes" and said "swift action will be taken." Usman Buzdar, the chief minister in the Punjab province, met with the family and promised that justice would be served.
Pakistan's security forces have been accused of extrajudicial killings in the past. In one of the most notorious incidents, a police officer was accused of killing a 27-year-old aspiring fashion model from a prominent Pashtun tribe last January, sparking widespread protests and allegations of police brutality. The officer was suspended and placed under house arrest pending trial.
Pakistan arrests officers after shooting that left 4 dead
Pakistan arrests officers after shooting that left 4 dead
- Over a dozen counter-terrorism officers arrested after police shot and killed four including minor
- Prime Minister Imran Khan "shocked at seeing the traumatized children who saw their parents shot before their eyes" and said "swift action will be taken."
IMF hails Pakistan privatization drive, calls PIA sale a ‘milestone’
- Fund backs sale of national airline as key step in divesting loss-making state firms
- IMF has long urged Islamabad to reduce fiscal burden posed by state-owned entities
KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Saturday welcomed Pakistan’s privatization efforts, describing the sale of the country’s national airline to a private consortium last month as a milestone that could help advance the divestment of loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The comments follow the government’s sale of a 75 percent stake in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to a consortium led by the Arif Habib Group for Rs 135 billion ($486 million) after several rounds of bidding in a competitive process, marking Islamabad’s second attempt to privatize the carrier after a failed effort a year earlier.
Between the two privatization attempts, PIA resumed flight operations to several international destinations after aviation authorities in the European Union and Britain lifted restrictions nearly five years after the airline was grounded following a deadly Airbus A320 crash in Karachi in 2020 that killed 97 people.
“We welcome the authorities’ privatization efforts and the completion of the PIA privatization process, which was a commitment under the EFF,” Mahir Binici, the IMF’s resident representative in Pakistan, said in response to an Arab News query, referring to the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility.
“This privatization represents a milestone within the authorities’ reform agenda, aimed at decreasing governmental involvement in commercial sectors and attracting investments to promote economic growth in Pakistan,” he added.
The IMF has long urged Islamabad to reduce the fiscal burden posed by loss-making state firms, which have weighed public finances for years and required repeated government bailouts. Beyond PIA, the government has signaled plans to restructure or sell stakes in additional SOEs as part of broader reforms under the IMF program.
Privatization also remains politically sensitive in Pakistan, with critics warning of job losses and concerns over national assets, while supporters argue private sector management could improve efficiency and service delivery in chronically underperforming entities.
Pakistan’s Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises said on Friday that SOEs recorded a net loss of Rs 122.9 billion ($442 million) in the 2024–25 fiscal year, compared with a net loss of Rs 30.6 billion ($110 million) in the previous year.
