LONDON: British counter-terrorism police are investigating a series of what authorities have described as “highly targeted” attacks against two Pakistani dissidents living in the United Kingdom, The Guardian reported on Friday.
Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command took over the investigation after four incidents beginning on Christmas Eve in Cambridgeshire and Buckinghamshire. One person has been arrested, and at least one of the attacks involved the use of a firearm.
The attacks targeted two prominent supporters of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, who is currently incarcerated. One of the victims told The Guardian that the attackers appeared to be “fair-skinned, white or wearing masks” and said he feared for his life.
The first two attacks occurred on Christmas Eve. In Chesham, Buckinghamshire, two men reportedly broke into the home of a dissident shortly after 8am and vandalised the property. The second incident took place at the Cambridgeshire residence of Mirza Shahzad Akbar, a human rights lawyer and former federal minister in Imran Khan’s cabinet.
Akbar, who served as accountability czar in the PTI government, was recently declared a proclaimed offender by an Islamabad court and is facing extradition efforts. In December, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met British High Commissioner Jane Marriott and handed over extradition papers seeking his return.
Speaking to The Guardian, the 48-year-old said he was attacked just after 8am when he opened his front door. “A masked man started punching me after asking, ‘Are you Shahzad Akbar?’ I must have taken 25 to 30 punches to my face,” he said, describing the attacker as trained, with “proper footwork like a boxer”.
He said his wife and children were left traumatised but he managed to push the attacker out of the house. Following the assault, counter-terrorism officers assumed control of the investigation, and on police advice, Akbar and his family went into hiding.
Akbar said that when he briefly returned to the property on December 31, a second attack occurred minutes after he left. CCTV footage showed two masked men arriving, one of whom fired three shots through the front window. Another attempted to start a fire by throwing a burning rag inside, but neighbours intervened, forcing the attackers to flee.
A third attack occurred on January 10, when an assailant sprayed chemicals on the exterior wall and smashed windows with an iron bar before fleeing after alarms were triggered. Police later confirmed racist graffiti had also been sprayed on the house.
Akbar said he believed he was targeted because of his political views, describing himself as a Pakistani dissident living in exile and an open critic of the Pakistani regime. He said he feared for his life and that of his family, adding that he had also been the victim of an unsolved acid attack at his home in 2023.
According to The Guardian, UK counter-terrorism officials have warned of a rise in attacks carried out by criminal proxies allegedly acting on behalf of states such as Russia, Iran and China against dissidents abroad. Britain’s Foreign Office has been criticised for not speaking publicly about the attacks.
