Kenyan Police Shoots Dead Pakistani Journalist

By Samuel Ouma A senior Pakistani journalist was shot dead in Kajiado, south of Nairobi, on Sunday night, in what police described as a mistaken identity. Arshad Sharif was shot in the head along the Nairobi-Magadi highway after his vehicle allegedly violated a roadblock set up to check on motor vehicles using the route. The deceased and two others, including the driver, were from Magadi town to Nairobi when the incident occurred. They were injured after the vehicle lost control and rolled. They are in the hospital with various injuries. “We had an incident of shooting which turned out to be a case of mistaken identity involving a journalist. We will release more information later,” confirmed a senior police officer. Police claim that after a carjacking incident in Nairobi's Pangani neighborhood where a child was taken hostage, there was a call for police to stop a car like the one they were driving at the roadblock. They were stopped and asked for identification after Sharif's car had appeared at the roadblock a short while earlier. They allegedly ignored the roadblock and continued driving. This led to a quick chase and shooting, which resulted in Sharif's death. Sharif's wife, Javeria Siddiqui, confirmed the death of her husband via a post on Twitter on Monday morning. “I lost a friend, husband, and my favourite journalist @arsched today; as per police, he was shot in Kenya," he said. Sharif previously worked for ARY News and relocated to Dubai after resigning from the channel.