UK counter-terrorism authorities probe targetted attacks on Pakistani dissidents

London, Jan 23 (IANS) Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command is carrying out a probe into a series of "highly targetted" attacks on Pakistani dissidents residing in United Kingdom which may have involvement of States using criminal proxies to silence their critics, local media reported.

One person has been detained after four attacks were conducted since Christmas eve. Among those, one attack involved a firearm. Two prominent supporters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, were targetted in Cambridgeshire and Buckinghamshire, UK's leading daily The Guardian reported on Friday.

The first two attacks occurred on Christmas eve. In one attack that took place in Buckinghamshire's Chesham, two men broke into dissident's residence just after 8 am (local time) and vandalised it.

Another attack took place at residence of human rights lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, a former member of Imran Khan’s cabinet, who is a critic of Pakistan’s current government.

Speaking to The Guardian, Akbar said that he was targetted just after 8 am (local time) on Christmas eve. He said, "I opened the door and then a masked man started punching me, after asking ‘are you Shahzad Akbar?’ I must have got 25-30 punches on my face."

He stated that his wife and children were "terrorised and screaming." Akbar stated that he managed to push the attacker out of his residence. Akbar mentioned that he and his family have moved out of their home and gone into hiding as per the advice given by police. On December 31, he returned to his house for sometime. However, he was attacked for the second time, minutes, after he left his home.

Akbar stated, "Six minutes after my departure, two men were seen on the CCTV, faces covered. One man with a firearm shot straight into the front window; three shots were fired and the window was pierced through."

Another man tried to set the house on fire by throwing a burning rag inside it through the window. However, neighbours came out after noticing disturbance, resulting in attackers to flee from the spot.

Akbar's house was attacked for the third time on January 10. He said, "One man again entered the house perimeter, sprayed some chemicals on the outer wall and then broke windows with an iron bar. After the alarms started, he ran away." Police said racist graffiti was sprayed on his home.

Mirza Shahzad Akbar said he is a Pakistani dissident living in exile. He said, "I am an open critic of the Pakistani regime, which is backed by the military."

“I cannot say who did it. However, one thing is certain: it was a targetted attack and the people who attacked were probably hired by someone. It is a question of the UK police and government’s political will to find out who did it, and why," The Guardian quoted him as saying.

On January 5, a man (34) was arrested in connection with the incident that took place on December 31. He was arrested on suspicion of attempted arson and for keeping a firearm and has subsequently been released on bail until a date in April, pending further probe.