Nine-year-old Australian girl Hania Ahmed was killed after Pakistani police mistakenly opened fire on her family’s rental car during an anti-robbery operation in Punjab’s Chakwal district.
A tragic police shooting in Pakistan has drawn international attention after a nine-year-old Australian girl was killed while travelling with her family during a visit to the country. The incident has prompted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to demand a transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.
Hania Ahmed, an Australian-born child, was visiting relatives in Chakwal, located in Pakistan’s Punjab province, when the incident occurred late on Wednesday night. According to Punjab police, the family was caught up in a robbery while travelling in a rental vehicle.
In a detailed statement shared on X on Monday morning (AEST), Punjab police said officers from the Crime Control Department (CCD) responded after receiving reports that the Perth-based family had been taken hostage at gunpoint.
Police said the suspects opened fire on an officer, triggering a gun battle.
“In the ensuing chaos, the officer involved mistakenly assessed that the suspects were attempting to flee in the victims’ vehicle and discharged his weapon,” the statement said.
What Is The Case?
According to Pakistani newspaper Dawn, the Australian-Pakistani family, Adeel Ahmed, 39, his wife Dr Sidra Khan, daughter Hania, and 10-year-old son Aafan, had travelled to Pakistan after completing the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
On the night of the incident, the family, originally from the Perth suburb of Kewdale, was heading to the home of Ahmed’s father-in-law for dinner when two armed men on a motorcycle intercepted their rental car, police said.
After the robbery began, Ahmed reportedly contacted emergency services. Police dispatched CCD personnel to the area, and upon their arrival, the suspects fled on their motorcycle while the rental vehicle also drove away from the scene.
“As the cops saw the vehicle being driven away immediately, they took it as belonging to the robbers and opened indiscriminate fire on the car,” according to police.
The shooting left Hania, her father and her brother critically injured. They were rushed to a nearby hospital, where Hania later succumbed to her injuries.
The BBC, citing Punjab police, reported that investigators believe the suspects fired first at officers. The police officer involved has since been taken into custody on murder charges, while a formal inquiry has been launched into the actions of other personnel present.
However, Hania’s father disputed that account in an interview with SBS Urdu, claiming the police fired first. An unverified image circulating online appears to show the family’s vehicle heavily damaged by bullets.
“These circumstances do need to be examined. They need to be examined in a transparent way so that everyone can know, the family, most importantly, but others as well,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra. “Australia expects there to be transparency and a proper investigation of these circumstances.”
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said the incident had caused significant distress within the Australian-Pakistani community and confirmed support was being provided to the bereaved family.
