ISLAMABAD: A senior leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has refused to cooperate with a fact-finding team investigating the circumstances of Arshad Sharif’s murder in Kenya, reported a local news channel on Saturday, while saying the slain journalist’s own family was not satisfied by the government’s probe.
A hugely popular talk show host, Sharif was shot by Kenyan police on October 23 when his vehicle sped up and drove through a checkpoint. Officials in Nairobi expressed regret over the incident, saying it was a case of “mistaken identity” during a search for a car involved in a child abduction case.
The two-member Pakistani fact-finding team, which also visited the African state, questioned the police narrative while calling Sharif “a victim of targeted assassination.”
The team also reached out to Murad Saeed, a senior PTI leader and a close aide of former prime minister Imran Khan, since he was thought to be in possession of Sharif’s laptop while asking him to hand it over to facilitate investigation.
According to Geo News, however, Saeed declined to cooperate with the team.
“In his letter to the fact-finding committee written on November 21,” the news channel said, “Saeed expressed reservations and refused to cooperate with the fact-finding committee.”
“The mother of Shaheed [martyr] Arshad Sharif has already expressed her reservations and concerns with respect to investigation into assassination of her son by the current government,” the PTI leader was quoted as saying in his correspondence with the team. “She has appealed for justice and expressed dissatisfaction over the [government] of Pakistan’s handling of the matter. She clearly stated: ‘I have no faith in the Pakistani government.’”
The fact-finding team had said in a written message to Saeed that its probe had revealed that he was “in possession of Apple MacBook of the deceased senior journalist Arshad Sharif.”
“Therefore, you are requested to provide the device of the deceased enabling the fact-finding team to ascertain the facts regarding [his] assassination,” the channel reported.
It added one of the team members requested Saeed to cooperate, saying the team had to present its report to the Human Rights Cell of the Supreme Court after being directed to do so.
In response, the PTI leader said in his note he was “willing to appear before the judicial commission constituted by the august Supreme Court and present all the information he has with respect to the matter.”
Senior PTI leader refuses to cooperate with investigators probing journalist Arshad Sharif’s killing
https://arab.news/y5hky
Senior PTI leader refuses to cooperate with investigators probing journalist Arshad Sharif’s killing
- Murad Saeed, a close aide of Imran Khan, is said to be in possession of the slain journalist’s laptop
- Saeed says he is willing to share information with a judicial commission formed by the Supreme Court
Four suspected militant commanders killed in security operation in northwest Pakistan
- Police say joint raid targeted Pakistan Taliban faction in Bannu district
- Operation comes amid surge in militant attacks blamed on Afghanistan-based groups
ISLAMABAD: Four suspected militant commanders were killed in a joint operation by police and security forces in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, authorities said on Monday, as security forces intensify operations amid a surge in militant attacks in the region.
The operation, conducted in the Bannu district, targeted commanders belonging to a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, police said.
The four suspects were allegedly involved in multiple attacks, including the killing of an assistant commissioner in North Waziristan district, as well as facilitating and recruiting militants, carrying out targeted killings, attacking police checkpoints and stations, and engaging in kidnappings for ransom, according to police.
Bannu and neighboring districts have seen repeated militant violence since the TTP ended a fragile ceasefire with the Pakistani state in late 2022. The region lies close to the Afghan border and has long been a focal point of Pakistan’s counterinsurgency operations.
“This is a clear message for anti-state elements that there is no safe haven for terrorists in this country,” Deputy Inspector General of Police for the Bannu region, Sajjad Khan, said. “They will not be allowed to hide anywhere. Police and security forces are fully committed to countering terrorism.”
“Anti-state elements will be targeted one by one and completely eliminated. All possible measures will continue to ensure the safety of the public,” he added.
The operation follows an overnight militant attack last week on a police checkpoint in Bannu, in which five police officers were injured after security forces repelled the assault.
Pakistan has accused Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government of allowing militant groups such as the TTP to operate from Afghan territory, allegations Kabul denies. Afghan officials say Pakistan must address its own internal security challenges. The accusations have contributed to strained relations between the two neighbors, including periodic border clashes over the past year.
Pakistan has seen a sharp rise in militant violence over the past two years, with security officials attributing much of the renewed insurgency to TTP fighters allegedly operating from sanctuaries across the border.
