16 ANTI-TERROR OFFICERS HELD AFTER PAK GIRL, PARENTS KILLED

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities on Sunday arrested 16 counterterrorism officers after a middleaged couple, their 13-year-old daughter and another man were shot dead in what was initially described as a shootout with Islamic State terrorists.

A probe was ordered after videos of the incident on Saturday at Sahiwal toll plaza near Qadirabad on Lahore-multan motorway in Punjab province went viral.

Khalil, a resident of Kot Lakhpat, Lahore, his wife Nabeela, their 13-year-old daughter, and their neighbour Zeeshan were on their way to a wedding when they were killed in broad day light. The minor son of Khalil and Nabeela sustained a bullet injury while their two other daughters remained unhurt.

Police officials said those killed in the shooting were terrorists belonging to ISIS. A spokesperson claimed Zeeshan was an active member of ISIS, explaining that the terrorists used to travel with families to avoid police checking.

Earlier, the officials had described the shooting as a daring attempt by the law enforcers to rescue a group of kidnapped children from their captors.

The situation took a new twist when the injured minor son of the deceased parents narrated the incident in a video. “My father told them to take the money but spare us,” he said. Another amateur video made it impossible for anyone to conceal facts about the deadly shooting.