Pakistan: Police accused of killing family

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Six police officers on Tuesday were booked for killing a family, including a woman and teenage girl, in northeastern Punjab province.

Provincial Law Minister Raja Basharat announced in a news conference in Lahore city that several police officers were suspended for "mishandling" what he called an anti-terror operation.

He added that one of the deceased Zeeshan had alleged links to Daesh.

A large number of uniformed and plain-clothes police officers intercepted a vehicle in Sahiwal district, located 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Lahore, and sprayed the passengers on board with bullets.

Three of a family, father Khalil, mother Nabeela and daughter Areeba, and a neighbor driving the car died on the spot. A minor boy was hit by a bullet and his two minor sisters remained unhurt.

The police officers fled from the scene leaving the bodies and injured at the crime scene and claimed they had killed four Daesh members.

The latest incident of alleged extra-judicial killing sparked protests where thousands of citizens blocked the roads.

An inquiry into the incident ordered by Prime Minister Imran Khan called the killing a murder but claimed the driver had links with terrorists.

Eyewitness accounts of the surviving children circulating on social media state the police fired without any warning.

Last year, an aspiring model, Naqeebullah Mehsud along with three other youths was killed by policemen in port city Karachi sparking countrywide protests.