KARACHI: Pakistani police said on Friday they had killed a top bandit who was famous for his videos on TikTok and had operated for years in the notorious riverine marshlands of the Punjab province.
Shahid Lund had been hiding out in the riverine terrain in Punjab which has long offered refuge to bandits. The 28-year-old used the Internet to enthrall citizens even as he preyed on them, according to police.
On TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, he fascinated tens of thousands with messages delivered with a gun in hand, romanticizing his rural lifestyle and cultivating a reputation as a champion of the people.
The Punjab police said on Friday Lund, who led the Lund gang, one of several groups of bandits in Pakistan’s riverine area, had been killed in a joint operation by the Rahim Yar Khan and Rajanpur district police.
“The Government of Punjab had placed a bounty of Rs10 million ($35,811) on Shahid Lund,” the Punjab police said in a statement on X. “The deceased bandit was wanted by the police in 28 cases, including killing of policemen, terrorism, kidnapping for ransom, attacks on police, murders and robberies.”
Lund was said to dwell on a sandy island in the riverlands, often called the ‘katcha’ area that roughly translates to ‘backwaters,’ on the Indus River which skewers Pakistan from top to bottom. High-standing crops provide cover for ambushes and the region is riven by shifting seasonal waterways that complicate pursuit over crimes ranging from kidnapping to highway robbery and smuggling.
At the intersection of three of Pakistan’s four provinces, gangs with hundreds of members have for decades capitalized on poor coordination between police forces by flitting across jurisdictions. Sweeping police operations and even an army incursion in 2016 failed to impose law and order. This August, a rocket attack on a police convoy killed 12 officers.
Some bandits use the web to lay “honey-traps” luring kidnap victims by impersonating romantic suitors, business partners and advertising cheap sales of tractors or cars, while others parade hostages in clips for ransom or exhibit arsenals of heavy weapons in musical TikToks. Lund had by far the largest online profile — irking police with a combined 200,000 followers.
The Punjab police chief, Dr. Usman Anwar, lauded the Rahim Yar Khan and Rajanpur police for the successful operation in the riverlands.
“It is the mission of the police to eliminate terrorists, dacoits and miscreants from the katcha area,” Anwar was quoted as saying by the provincial police.
Pakistan police kill top bandit who used TikTok to terrorize, transfix Punjab’s riverine marshlands
https://arab.news/88tfd
Pakistan police kill top bandit who used TikTok to terrorize, transfix Punjab’s riverine marshlands
- Shahid Lund among bandits using Internet to parade hostages, exhibited arsenals of weapons in musical TikToks
- High-standing crops in Katcha lands along Indus River provide cover for ambushes, kidnappings, highway robberies, smuggling
Pakistan says responding to Afghan ‘offensive operations’ after border fire as tensions escalate
- Afghan Taliban spokesperson says “large-scale offensive operations” launched against Pakistani military bases
- Pakistan says Afghan forces opened “unprovoked” fire across multiple sectors along shared border
ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said on Thursday they had launched “large-scale offensive operations” against Pakistani military bases and installations, prompting Pakistan to say its forces were responding to what it described as unprovoked fire along the shared border.
The escalation follows Islamabad’s weekend airstrikes targeting what it said were Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh militant camps inside Afghanistan in response to a wave of recent bombings and attacks in Pakistan. Islamabad said the strikes killed over 100 militants, while Kabul said dozens of civilians were killed and condemned the attacks as a violation of its sovereignty.
In a post on social media platform X, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghanistan had launched “large-scale offensive operations” in response to repeated violations by the Pakistani military.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said Afghan forces had initiated hostilities along multiple points of the frontier.
“Afghan Taliban regime unprovoked action along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border given an immediate, and effective response,” the ministry said in a statement.
The statement said Pakistani forces were targeting Taliban positions in the Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur sectors, claiming heavy Afghan casualties and the destruction of multiple posts and equipment. It added that Pakistan would take all necessary measures to safeguard its territorial integrity and the security of its citizens.
Separately, security officials said Pakistani forces had carried out counterattacks in several border sectors.
“Pakistan’s security forces are giving a befitting reply to the unprovoked Afghan aggression with full force,” a security official said, declining to be named.
“The Pakistani security forces’ counter-attack destroyed Taliban’s hideouts and the Khawarij fled,” they added, referring to TTP militants.
The claims from both sides could not be independently verified.
Cross-border violence has intensified in recent weeks, with Pakistan blaming a surge in suicide bombings and militant attacks on militants it says are based in Afghanistan. Kabul denies providing safe havens to anti-Pakistan militant groups.
The clashes mark the third major escalation between the neighbors in less than a year. Similar Pakistani strikes last year triggered weeklong clashes before Qatar, Türkiye and other regional actors mediated a ceasefire in October.
The 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) frontier, a key trade and transit corridor linking Pakistan to landlocked Afghanistan and onward to Central Asia, has faced repeated closures amid tensions, disrupting commerce and humanitarian movement. Trade between the two nations has remained closed since October 2025.
