Navy captain shot dead in broad daylight

Incident marks fourth attack on naval officers this year.

KARACHI:

A Pakistan Navy officer, Captain Muhammad Nadeem Ahmed, was shot dead in broad daylight on Wednesday when two armed men fired at his car near Karachi’s busy National Stadium Road.

He was shot once in his neck and the same bullet that killed Captain Ahmed injured his Swedish wife in her shoulder.

Captain Ahmed, 46, along with his wife, Tracy, was on his way to PNS Jauhar Engineering College to give a lecture. The couple had completed their PhD and both were professors as part of the PNS Jauhar Engineering College faculty.

The deceased and the injured were taken to PNS Shifa Hospital.

“Apparently, the same group of terrorists might have been behind all the attacks on the Pakistan Navy and its personnel,” district (East) police chief DIG Captain (retd) Tahir Naveed told The Express Tribune. “The CCTV-camera footage, unfortunately, is not clear. We are trying to get more footage from other sources.” There were reports that the deceased belonged to the Shia sect, however, naval and police officials denied that.

The frequent incidents of targeting the Pakistan Navy men have shocked officialdom. Earlier in Karachi, the Pakistan Navy has been on the hit list of terrorists. A major attack that took place was at the PNS Mehran base when a group of terrorists killed 15 navy personnel and destroyed three PC-3 Orion planes.

On April 26, 2011, two Naval buses came under attack in Defence Housing Authority and Mauripur that claimed four lives and left 55 injured. Two days later, another bus carrying navy staff came under attack on Karsaz in which five people lost their lives.

Another couple of days later, Lt Commander Nasir Nafees was shot dead in North Karachi.

Earlier this year, on February 27, a lieutenant commander of the Pakistan Navy, Syed Azeem Haider Kazmi, was seriously injured in a targeted attack near the city port.

Meanwhile, on May 1, another Pakistan Navy official, Zahid Iqbal, was shot dead in an act of targeted killing in Kharadar. Another naval officer, accompanied by his wife, was wounded when a magnetic device planted in their car exploded on Shahrae Faisal.

A Pakistan navy official told The Express Tribune that an investigation team, in collaboration with the local police, is investigating these frequent attacks in the city. “No doubt, there are anti-state elements behind this,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2013.