Latif Afridi, Senior Pakistani Lawyer, Shot Dead Inside Peshawar High Court

Pakistan: Latif Afridi, former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president and senior lawyer has been shot dead inside the Peshawar high Courton Monday. Pakistan-based news outlet Dawn said that the senior lawyer was sitting in the bar room with other lawyers when a gunman opened fire at him. He was immediately rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital of Peshawar where he succumbed to his injuries.

Meanwhile, the gunman has been taken into custody. He has been identified as Adnan Afridi. Police have recovered a small weapon, an identity card and a student card from the attacker.

لطیف آفریدی ایڈووکیٹ فائرنگ سے جاں بحق،ہسپتال ترجمان کی تصدیق

اِنَّا لِلّٰہِ وَاِنَّآ اِلَیْہِ رَاجِعُوْنَ pic.twitter.com/kdjtZLiciN

— Farzana Ali (@farzanaalispark) January 16, 2023

Expressing grief over the incident, Pakistan PM Shahbaz Sharif said,”The worsening law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is alarming, the provincial government should immediately take steps to improve it.”

نامور قانون دان اورسابق صدر سپریم کورٹ بار عبدالطیف آفریدی کےپشاور میں بیہمانہ قتل پر دلی دکھ اور رنج ہوا۔ انکی بلندیِ درجات اور لواحقین کیلئے صبرِ جمیل کی دعا ہے۔خیبر پختونخوا میں بگڑتی ہوئی امن و امان کی صورتحال تشویشناک ہے،صوبائی حکومت اس کی بہتری کیلئے فی الفور اقدامات اٹھائے

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) January 16, 2023

Former president Asif Ali Zardari condemned the murder of Afridi and said he was a strong supporter of democracy and a staunch opponent of extremism. “The killing of martyr Abdul Latif Afridi is very unfortunate,” the PPP leader said in a tweet.

Abdul Latif Afridi, also known as Latif Lala, was a lawyer and Pashtun nationalist politician who was formerly the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan. He was a senior leader of the National Democratic Movement.