Five British men have been arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of killing four people in a family dispute, authorities said.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) detained the suspects at Sialkot International Airport as they attempted to flee to Britain just hours after the killings in Jhelum, a north-eastern district of Pakistan.
The five suspects were identified as Mujtaba Karamat, 22, Murtaza Karamat, 20, Haroon Basharat, 19, Muhammad Zaheer and Chaudhry Faisal. All were born in Pakistan but had British passports and had spent time in the UK, police said.
According to police reports, assailants armed with assault rifles and pistols stormed the house of Dilawar Hussain, 31, on Thursday evening in the village of Bhrota.
His sister, Adeela Abrar, and brother-in-law, Ibrar Hussain, were visiting the family to celebrate Shab-e-Barat, a religious night observed by Muslims, when the gunmen launched their attack.
They, along with Sakeena Arshad, Dilawar’s mother and Matarshad, Dilawar’s brother, were killed in what police believe was a longstanding family feud.
“As my mother accompanied my sister and brother-in-law to the main entrance, I went to the terrace. Suddenly, a group of armed men barged in, hurled abuses, and began indiscriminate firing,” Dilawar Hussain told The Telegraph.
“They shot my mother, sister, and brother-in-law. They died on the spot,” he said.
“One of them then shouted, ‘Mutarshad is here too!’ and another assailant turned his rifle towards him and shot him dead.” Dilawar, who hid behind a wall, survived the attack. “They continued aerial firing as they fled,” he added.
“I was in shock. How could they kill my family? We had done no harm to them,” Dilawar said.
The five suspects were arrested as they attempted to board an Emirates flight to Dubai at 2.50am on Friday.
“The suspects were British passport holders and were fleeing to the UK,” an FIA spokesman said in a statement. Their names had been added to a no-fly list as a precautionary measure, officials said.
Killings over family disputes are not uncommon in Pakistan, where powerful families often seek to maintain social, political and economic control over their communities.
Police believe the killings were in response to the Hussain family’s growing influence in the community and disputes between them and some of the families of the suspects.
“Investigations are ongoing, and we are gathering evidence to ensure justice for the victims,” said Farukk Shabir Dar, a sub-inspector at Mangla Police Station.
