An Afghan national was shot and his Pakistani wife injured in an honor-related incident in Karachi’s Orangi Town, Pakistani media reported Sunday. The assailants were the woman’s former husband and nephew.
The victim, Mir Afzal, and his wife, Saira Afzal, 35, were planning to move to Afghanistan with her 14-year-old daughter, Ambareen, from her first marriage. The shooting occurred amid the ongoing deportation of Afghans from Pakistan.
Saira’s ex-husband, a resident of Charsadda in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and her nephew, Abu Bakar, opposed the couple’s departure, leading to the fatal shooting at Bacha Khan Chowk.
Abu Bakar was apprehended and confessed to the killing at the Pirabad police station. “He claimed he killed Meer Afzal in the name of ‘honor’,” said Station House Officer (SHO) Imran Afridi.
Saira, previously divorced, had married Afzal after separating from her first husband, with whom she had her daughter. Both the deceased and the injured were taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
Police have registered a murder and attempted murder case against both suspects based on the woman’s complaint.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that 1.3 million undocumented Afghans live in Pakistan, with around 720,000 individuals and 50,000 voluntary returnees expected to need border support through July 2024. As per UNHCR reports, approximately 286,700 Afghan migrants have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan.
