Lawyer of Pak doctor who helped trace bin Laden shot dead

Peshawar, Mar 17: The lawyer of the doctor who helped US forces track down al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in a fake polio vaccination drive was today shot dead by unknown armed men here, police said.

Samiullah Afridi, counsel for Dr Shakeel Afridi, was ambushed by gunmen while on his way home in a car in Mathra village, a rural locality of Peshawar district.

Samiullah had just returned home after three months abroad. Local police rushed to the site and started search operation to nab the assassins.

No group has claimed responsibility for the killing yet. Dr Afridi was sentenced to 33 years in prison and fined Rs 3,20,000 on charges of colluding with Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) terror outfit and its chief in 2012.

His sentence was later reduced to 23 years and a retrial was ordered.

Dr Afridi was arrested immediately after the May 2, 2011 operation by US commandos in the garrison town of Abbottabad in which bin Laden was killed.

PTI