ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA track and kill Osama bin Laden has launched a hunger strike from his prison cell, his lawyer and family said Monday.
Shakeel Afridi has been languishing behind bars for years since his fake vaccination program helped US agents track and kill the Al Qaeda leader in 2011.
“It is to protest the injustices and inhumane attitudes being committed against him and his family,” his brother Jamil Afridi told AFP after meeting with Afridi in a prison in central Punjab province.
His attorney Qamar Nadeem also confirmed the hunger strike.
Afridi was jailed for 33 years in May 2012 after he was convicted of having ties to militants, a charge he has always denied.
His sentence was later reduced by 10 years.
Some US lawmakers have branded the case as revenge for his help in the search for the Al Qaeda chief.
The 2011 killing of Bin Laden caused massive embarrassment for Pakistan and particularly its powerful military.
For years Afridi has had no access to his lawyer, while his appeal against his prison sentence has stalled with scheduled court appearances repeatedly delayed.
His family has also complained of being targeted and harassed by authorities over the years.
US President Donald Trump vowed during his election campaign that he would order Pakistan to free Afridi, but since taking office has been largely silent on the issue.
The comments sparked a blistering rebuttal from Pakistan, whose interior minister at the time branded Trump “ignorant” and stated that the “government of Pakistan and not Donald Trump” would decide Afridi’s fate.
In recent years Pakistani authorities have cracked down on nonprofits and forced them to leave the country, which analysts say was largely tied to the Afridi case due to the security establishment’s fears that NGOs have provided cover for spying.
Bin Laden doctor launches hunger strike in Pakistan
https://arab.news/2fyzq
Bin Laden doctor launches hunger strike in Pakistan
- Dr. Shakeel Afridi has been behind bars since 2012 after his fake vaccination program helped US track and kill Al Qaeda leader in 2011
- The 2011 killing of Bin Laden caused massive embarrassment for Pakistan
Pakistan says nine militants killed in security operations in northwest
- The intelligence-based operations were conducted in Tank and Lakki Marwat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Military says the counterterrorism campaign is being pursued under the framework of the National Action Plan
PESHAWAR: Security forces in Pakistan said on Saturday they killed nine militants belonging to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in two intelligence-based operations in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Pakistan refers to fighters of the TTP, an umbrella group of various armed factions, as “khwarij,” a term from early Islamic history used to describe an extremist sect that rebelled against authority. The military also alleges the group receives arms and funding from the Indian government, a charge New Delhi denies.
The two operations were carried out on Dec. 5 in the volatile districts of Tank and Lakki Marwat, according to a statement from the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
“On reported presence of khwarij, an intelligence-based operation was conducted by the Security Forces in Tank District,” the statement said. “During the conduct of operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij location and after an intense fire exchange, seven khwarij were sent to hell.”
“Another intelligence-based operation was conducted in Lakki Marwat District,” it added. “In ensuing fire exchange, two more khwarij were effectively neutralized by the security forces.”
ISPR said weapons and ammunition were recovered from the militants, whom it described as “Indian sponsored” and accused of involvement in attacks on security personnel, law enforcement agencies and civilians.
It said follow-up “sanitization operations” were under way as part of the country’s counterterrorism campaign under Azm-e-Istehkam, approved by the Federal Apex Committee of the National Action Plan, which aims to eliminate what it called foreign-supported militant threats in the country.
