Father shots dead son over the PTI flag dispute in Peshawar, Pakistan.
A father in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, shot and killed his young son for refusing to take down the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) flag from his home, in what appears to be the deadliest case of political polarization.
The dispute started when the son, who had just returned from a job in Qatar, raised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party’s flag at the family’s Peshawar suburbia. Imran Khan was the previous prime minister.
According to district police official Naseer Farid, “the father forbade his son from hoisting the PTI flag at home, but the son refused to take it down and abandon PTI.”
“The argument escalated, and in a fit of anger, the father fired a pistol at his 31-year-old son, before fleeing the house.”
The son passed away en route to the hospital.
The father, who was formerly a flag-waving member of the nationalist Awami National Party, is being sought after by police.
In Pakistan, elections on February 8 are frequently tainted by violence, with bombs and gunshots intended specifically at political candidates.
Commander Moazzam Jah Ansari told AFP that some 5,000 paramilitary Frontier Constabulary (FC) troops will be stationed in the northwest Afghan border region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the first week of February.
A summary requesting the deployment of the Pakistan Army and members of the civil armed forces to assist the civil institutions in conducting a free, fair, and peaceful general election was approved by the caretaker federal government one day earlier.
The development occurred during a federal cabinet meeting chaired by acting prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar.
Polling Stations
According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, “the troops will perform duties in sensitive constituencies and polling stations and will also act as a rapid response force.”
The Pakistan Army and members of the civil armed forces would be stationed at key voting places throughout the nation during the upcoming general elections, as approved by the federal cabinet in unanimity on the Ministry of Interior’s suggestion.
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