Pakistan police shoot gunman after televised standoff

PAKISTAN: Pakistani police snipers shot and seriously wounded a gunman who was tackled live on television by a politician during a dramatic standoff close to Islamabad's high-security political quarter.

The man, who was with his wife and children as he issued demands for the imposition of Islamic law, was said by doctors to be fighting for his life after the five-hour incident which shut down part of the city late Thursday. Identified by Pakistani media as Mohammad Sikandar, the man touted two semi-automatic guns as he smoked cigarettes while giving interviews to TV stations over his mobile phone.

"Muslims are being subjected to cruelties everywhere in the world," Sikandar, wearing black, told Dunya News as his children sat in the back of the Toyota Corolla and his wife stood calmly nearby. At one point she handed a note to a plain-clothed police negotiator.

The standoff began around 5:30 pm (1230 GMT) when police flagged down the car for a traffic violation in the central Jinnah Avenue neighbourhood -- less than a kilometre from the presidency and parliament buildings.

Sikandar then started firing into the air, forcing markets and shops in the area to close. Crowds of onlookers gathered at a distance, as TV anchors broadcasting the incident live on air queried how police checkpoints had failed to stop an armed man from driving into the sensitive area.

The standoff ended at 11:00 pm after Zamurd Khan, a leader of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party who was acting as a negotiator, jumped on the gunman and tried to disarm him.

Sikandar broke free and fired at Khan, who was not injured. Police and paramilitary commandos then shot the gunman as he tried to flee, hauling him away as blood poured from his wounds. The children were unharmed.

Television footage showed the young boy trying to rush over to his father after he was shot, but Khan held him back.

AFP