ISLAMABAD: A leader of former prime minister Imran Khan’s political party told a news conference on Wednesday Arshad Sharif’s killing in Kenya was masterminded in Pakistan and he was shot from close range.
According to the authorities in the East African country, the Pakistani journalist was killed Sunday night when the car he was in sped up and drove through a checkpoint outside the Kenyan capital, prompting police to open fire. Nairobi police say the shooting was being treated as a case of mistaken identity.
However, Faisal Vawda, who served as federal minister for water resources in Khan’s administration, called Sharif’s “murder” premeditated while claiming that he was shot by someone inside his vehicle.
“It is not like 20 bullets were fired and Arshad Sharif was martyred,” he told journalists at the National Press Club in Islamabad. “In my estimation, Arshad Sharif was shot from inside the car or at close range.”
He said the slain Pakistani journalist had only received “two bullets in his chest and head.”
Vawda maintained no one would find Sharif’s cellphone or laptop since all evidence in the case had already been erased. He said he knew all these facts since he had never lost contact with the journalist.
The former federal minister refused to identify anyone behind Sharif’s killing, though he said he had named them in a video and given “millions of dollars” to kill them if he was shot.
He also maintained the establishment had played no role in Sharif’s killing since he had positive relations with them.
Vawda said he foresaw plenty of blood and funerals in the coming days, adding he was willing to share all the evidence in Sharif’s murder case with his party chairman along with the top intelligence agencies of the country.
Pakistani opposition politician says Arshad Sharif murder premeditated, was shot from close range from inside car
https://arab.news/v2nka
Pakistani opposition politician says Arshad Sharif murder premeditated, was shot from close range from inside car
- Faisal Vawda says slain Pakistani journalist had only received "two bullets in his chest and head"
- Says Sharif’s cellphone or laptop could not be found as all evidence in the case had been erased
Pakistan’s Sindh orders inquiry after clashes at Imran Khan party rally in Karachi
- Khan’s PTI party accuses police of shelling to disperse its protesters, placing hurdles to hinder rally in Karachi
- Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah vows all those found guilty in the inquiry will be punished
ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province has ordered an inquiry into clashes that took place between police and supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in Karachi on Sunday, as it held a rally to demand his release from prison.
The provincial government had granted PTI permission to hold a public gathering at Karachi’s Bagh-i-Jinnah Park and had also welcomed Sohail Afridi, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where Khan’s party is in power, when he arrived in the city last week. However, the PTI cited a delay in receiving a permit and announced a last-minute change to a gate of Mazar-i-Quaid, the mausoleum of the nation’s founder.
Despite the change, PTI supporters congregated at the originally advertised venue. PTI officials claimed the party faced obstacles in reaching the venue and that its supporters were met with police intervention. Footage of police officers arresting Khan supporters in Karachi were shared widely on social media platforms.
“A complete inquiry is being held and whoever is found guilty in this, he will be punished,” Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah said while speaking to a local news channel on Sunday.
Shah said the PTI had sought permission to hold its rally at Bagh-i-Jinnah in Karachi from the Sindh government, even though the venue’s administration falls under the federal government’s jurisdiction.
He said problems arose when the no objection certificate to hold the rally was delayed for a few hours and the party announced it would hold the rally “on the road.”
The rally took place amid rising tensions between the PTI and Pakistan’s military and government. Khan, who remains in jail on a slew of charges he says are politically motivated since August 2023, blames the military and the government for colluding to keep him away from power by rigging the 2024 general election and implicating him in false cases. Both deny his allegations.
Since Khan was ousted in a parliamentary vote in April 2022, the PTI has complained of a widespread state crackdown, while Khan and his senior party colleagues have been embroiled in dozens of legal cases.
