Nairobi police say Pakistani journalist killed by mistake 2022 sawal24news.com

 

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Senior Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif poses for photograph prior to recoding an episode of his talk show at a studio, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Dec. 15, 2016. Sharif, 50, had been in hiding abroad after leaving Pakistan to avoid arrest on charges of criticizing his country's powerful military. Sharif was shot and killed by police after the car he was in sped up instead of halting at a roadblock near Nairobi, the police said Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. The police said it was a case of "mistaken identity" during a search for a similar car involved in a case of child abduction. (AP Photo)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A senior Pakistani journalist living in hiding in Kenya was shot and killed by police after the car he was in sped up instead of halting at a roadblock near Nairobi, the police said on Monday. Kenyan police expressed regret over the incident, saying it was a case of “mistaken identity” during a search for a similar car involved in a case of child abduction.

Arshad Sharif, 50, left Pakistan in July to avoid arrest over criticizing the South Asian country’s powerful military. He was also a critic of the government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who has repeatedly said he believes in freedom of the media.

On Monday, Sharif spoke with Kenyan President William Ruto and asked him to ensure a fair and transparent investigation into the journalist’s killing, according to a government statement.

Nairobi police said Arshad Sharif was shot in the head and killed Sunday night after the car he was in with his brother, Khurram Ahmed, drove through a roadblock set up on the Nairobi-Magadi highway to check vehicles along the key route. They were traveling from the town of Magadi to the Kenyan capital.

The two ignored police orders to stop and sped up. “They did not stop and proceeded with the journey,” the police said. Police opened fire and laid chase, during which the car flipped over.