Pakistan

AmmoDump shooting range shut down after Arshad Sharif killing

Published

7 months ago

Farwa

American security firm pulls out of contract with AmmoDump, say sources.
Local police authority put on hold all warranties for training, shooting exercises.
Several other companies suspended their contracts.

LONDON/NAIROBI: The AmmoDump Kwenia Shooting Range in Magadi, where Arshad Sharif spent the last hours of his life, has been closed for business by the Kenyan authorities as the investigation into the killing of the journalist continues, local sources have confirmed.

Sources have confirmed that an American security firm has pulled out of a contract with AmmoDump, and the local police authority has cancelled or put on hold all warranties for training and shooting exercises with the site.

Several other companies have suspended their contracts with the shooting range while the investigation goes on. Two businessmen from Karachi own the site — Waqar Ahmad and Khurram Ahmad — who own and run several real estate projects in the African country.

A local police source confirmed the shooting range owners were told to halt all operations. The police source confirmed that several local authorities used to arrange shooting practices at the site.

One of the people involved in looking after the business affairs of the Ahmad brothers confirmed that the shooting site is currently not operational. Still, he said the site would be open to business soon to the general public and companies.

“We were ordered by the government authorities to stop our operations. The shootout that resulted in Arshad Sharif’s death had nothing to do with AmmoDump. It was a tragic incident, but we have been told to stop our business activities.

“We have cancelled our bookings for now,” said the source. During a visit to the site, a staff member requesting secrecy said the staff remains at the site, but “we are not taking any more bookings until further notice.”

The AmmoDump social media pages have not been updated and continue to invite bookings and business. However, when contacted via their social media-advertised WhatsApp number, there was no response.

Geo News revealed this week that American instructors were present at the site when Arshad Sharif arrived with Khurram and spent a night and two days at the site. The presence of Americans at the site raises questions, but the activities of American security agencies in Kenya are well-known and established.

The United States and Kenya established diplomatic relations in 1964. Both elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership in 2018. The two countries jointly work on anti-terrorism projects and local security and cooperate on almost all issues.

The American influence in the country is so strong that the Kenyan government allowed the Akasha brothers — Baktash Akasha Abdalla and his brother Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla — to be kidnapped from their homes in an illegal raid in a wealthy Nairobi neighbourhood and taken to the US for sentencing on drug importation and illegal narcotics production with the intent of selling in America.

One of the co-accused Akasha brothers is Pakistani gold merchant Muhammad Asif Hafeez, whose story was highlighted over the last two years by this publication. Asif Hafeez remains in high-security Belmarsh prison, where he is fighting the US extradition request.

Another co-accused, Indian national Vicky Goswami, husband to actress Mamta Kulkarni, was arrested in Nairobi and taken to the US in the same extraordinary rendition, but since then he has become an approver for the US, turning his back on his former business partners.

Khurram and Waqar started the AmmoDump range around seven years ago. According to the site’s website, it provides recreational activities such as shooting practices, police and firearms training, military shooting training, bike, and motor rides, and weekend and weekday camping. The site has no electricity, and it uses generators.

The shooting site is spread over several acres of vast land where there is no human life for several kilometres in any direction. AmmoDump highlights its status as a significant reconnaissance site for security personnel looking to hone their shooting skills in warfare. It offers services to governments, individuals, and private security companies. Khurram and Waqar have not responded to questions.

Pakistan

KU students end protest after ‘picked up’ student returns

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

KARACHI: Students of Karachi University called off their protest after a fellow student who was allegedly “picked up” from the varsity’s premises returned.

A KU student confirmed to Geo News that Saqib, the student who was allegedly “whisked away”, has returned.

The students of the varsity had launched a protest, earlier today, after Saqib was allegedly “taken away”.

The protesters told Geo News that the student, studying at the Department of Urdu, was allegedly whisked away by some people in plain clothes. They said the men claimed they were from a law enforcement agency.

However, KU Security Adviser Dr Moiz Khan said Rangers have disassociated themselves from the incident.

The university’s administration analysed the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage to identify the students and the people who picked him up.

After the incident, the students staged a protest outside KU’s Silver Jubilee Gate and blocked the University Road.

However, upon the police’s request, they shifted their protest to the front of the varsity’s administration block.

The Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) claimed that the student was its worker.

Pakistan

Jibran Nasir’s ‘kidnapping’ case registered hours after he was ‘picked up’ in Karachi’s DHA

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

Cases registered under sections 365 and 34 of PPC.
Nasir’s wife seeks immediate release of her husband.
Protest today at 4:00pm at KPC to demand Nasir’s release.

KARACHI: The port city’s police have registered a “kidnapping” case of prominent lawyer and human rights activist Jibran Nasir on the complaint of his wife, Mansha Pasha, hours after the advocate was “picked up” from Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area.

The case has been registered at the Clifton Police Station under two sections of the Pakistan Penal Code — 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

Pasha, a renowned actress, told police in an application earlier that her husband was “picked up” by men on Thursday night.

Mansha Pashas application to the police. — provided by the reporter — Mansha Pasha’s application to the police. — provided by the reporter

Police were at first, according to Pasha, not registering the FIR. She said she would move the court if the law enforcers did not register the case.

She stated: “On 01.06.2023 at about 11:00 pm, I was returning from dinner with my husband in our personal car … when a white color Toyota Hilux / Vigo … intercepted and hit our car from the front-left side and forced us to stop near Ideal Bakery on 26th Street, Defence Phase 5, Karachi.”

She further added: “Another vehicle i.e. a Silver Corolla blocked our vehicle from behind and as such, we were surrounded. Some 15 people along with weapons came out from the said vehicles in civil clothes and forced my husband to get out of the car, man-handling him towards the subject vehicle. They then abducted him and took him away and his whereabouts are unknown till now.”

In her application, she also requested immediate action be taken to ensure his swift release.

“In light of the above-mentioned situation, I have no other recourse than to approach your office for registration of my complaint for my missing husband. I would be thankful if an immediate action is taken for his swift release. Furthermore, action in accordance with law must be taken against those who abducted my husband,” she wrote.

Furthermore, Pasha told Geo News that a protest was being held at 4:00pm at the Karachi Press Club to demand her husband’s release.

Condemnations

As the news of Nasir’s abduction went viral, several people and human rights organisations condemned the incident.

Concerned by the abduction, they demanded that Nasir be returned home safely and quickly.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) took to Twitter stating: “HRCP is deeply concerned by reports that lawyer and activist [Jibran Nasir] has been abducted by unknown armed persons in Karachi. We demand that he be safely recovered immediately and his abductors held accountable under the law.”

Prime Minister’s Strategic Reforms Salman Sufi also tweeted his support for the human rights activist.

“Very disturbing to hear about [Jibran Nasir] abduction. Hope Sindh police will assist his family and locate him immediately. Jibran has always spoken against violent extremism and rioting. Hoping for his safe and immediate return,” he wrote.

Moreover, Imaan Mazari, the daughter of the former human rights minister Shireen Mazari expressed his dismay at the news.

“No words… complete madness,” she tweeted.

Pakistan

8-year-old girl raped in Islamabad

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

Afghan girl was raped by a man in broad daylight.
Case lodged at Shahzad Town Police Station.
Medico-legal official confirms the girl’s rape.

ISLAMABAD: An 8-year-old Afghan girl was raped by a man in broad daylight who managed to run away in the presence of residents of Mohallah Diptian falling in the jurisdiction of Shahzad Town Police Station, The News reported Friday.

The minor victim was shifted to a hospital where the medico-legal official confirmed the rape.

The Shahzad Town police have registered the case against the unidentified rapist under sections 376 and 377/B of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the father of the victim but couldn’t hunt down the rapist till the filing of this report.

Hazar Gul, an Afghan national, hailing from Jalalabad, lodged a complaint with the Shahzad Town, saying that he was living in Mohallah Diptian, located near Mariam Masjid with his family for a couple of months.

“I was present at my house along with my elder brother when we heard some noises from the street, we rushed out of the house and witnessed a young man running towards us, consequently, without knowing the reason for his escape, we both tried to intercept him but he succeeded to let loose from our clutches and ran off from our custody,” the complainant narrating his story, said.

However, he said, “We moved towards the place where people of the street were gathered and saw my minor daughter crying.”

Upon query, the minor victim told him the tale of the brutal attack on her, saying she was playing near her house when she was dragged by the rapist into an under-construction house and raped forcibly.

The DPO (Rural) has taken up the case and asked the Shahzad Town police to take the case as a challenge and use all their efforts to make headway to arrest the rapist, the police sources said.

The SP has constituted teams and sent them to different locations to get a clue about the rapist.

The sources added that the police have rounded up a few suspects for investigation, claiming that the police teams would make headway to the criminal and hunt him down within the next 24 hours.