Alleged mugging case: Afghan diplomat shot in Islamabad

Naqeebullah Ibrahimkhel was shot in the leg; admitted to PIMS.

ISLAMABAD:

Unidentified men shot and injured an Afghan diplomat at a busy marketplace in Islamabad, the Afghan Embassy said on Friday.

Naqeebullah Ibrahimkhel, the third secretary and in-charge of education and student affairs at the Afghan Embassy, was shot in the leg by assailants in F-10 Sector late Wednesday night, said embassy spokesperson Shams Zardasht while talking to The Express Tribune. The diplomat was admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for treatment following the incident and his condition is stable, he added.

According to Zardasht, Ibrahimkhel had been on his way back from a market, when armed men approached him and attempted to abduct him. The assailants also snatched some of the diplomat’s personal belongings, including his cell phone and cash. Although the spokesperson admitted the possibility that the incident may have been a mugging, he said the embassy has requested an investigation.

“We do not know the motive behind this incident and we demand the Pakistan government investigate the matter and share the details with us,” Zardasht said.



“We demand that the government of Pakistan ensure the security of all Afghan diplomats and embassy staffers to avoid such incidents in future,” said Afghan Ambassador Umer Daudzai at PIMS.

The spokesperson said that the director general of the Afghan Desk at the foreign ministry Tipu Usman visited Ibrahimkhel at PIMS and called for an investigation into the incident as well. He cited Usman as saying Islamabad police are investigating the incident.

Islamabad police sources confirmed that the investigation is under way.

Meanwhile, police have termed the incident a mugging attempt. According to Shalimar police station house officer Sajjad Bukhari, the assailants opened fire at the diplomat when he resisted their attempts to mug him. He said police have obtained the suspects’ photographs from CCTV footage and wanted the injured diplomat to see them to identify his attackers.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2013.