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On 19 January 2019, Mohammad Khalil and his family were travelling from Lahore to Burewala to attend a wedding. With him were his wife, Nabeela, their four children, and their neighbour, Zeeshan Javed, who was driving.
Near Sahiwal, personnel from Punjab’s Counter Terrorism Department opened fire on their vehicle. Khalil, Nabeela, their thirteen-year-old daughter Areeba, and Zeeshan were killed. Three children—Umair, Muneeba and Hadia—survived.
A journey to a family celebration ended with four deaths and three children facing life without their parents and elder sister. The News — Initial reporting, 21 January 2019
The Sahiwal CTD case demands attention both for the circumstances of the shooting and for the accountability proceedings that followed. At its heart are people whose lives cannot be adequately represented by a casualty count.
Areeba was thirteen. She had set out with her family. She deserved to return home.
According to Umair’s account reported by The News, his father pleaded with the CTD personnel to take their money and spare their lives. Umair said they nevertheless opened fire. He also described being taken with the surviving children to a petrol station and left there. The News — Umair’s account, 21 January 2019
Consider the meaning of that reported plea: a father offering what he had, asking armed officers to let his family live.
No parent should have to bargain for a child’s life on a public road. No child should have to recount such a plea after losing the parent who made it.
Umair’s words brought the family’s experience into public view. Listening to a surviving child meant confronting the human consequences behind the official description of an operation.
One especially disturbing account deserves clear attention.
Wikipedia, citing a Pakistan Point report, attributes to Umair the statement that CTD personnel first removed all four siblings from the vehicle, then put thirteen-year-old Areeba back inside and opened fire. This specific sequence is presented here as a reported account attributed to Umair, rather than an independently established judicial finding. Wikipedia — Surviving children’s stance and reference 10
Separately, Geo News’s review of the Joint Investigation Team report described personnel removing three children and then firing again at the remaining occupants. That account does not independently establish that Areeba was first removed and returned, but it makes the sequence of the firing and the treatment of the children particularly important. Geo News — Review of the JIT report, 8 April 2019
If Areeba had already been brought out of the vehicle, why was she not kept safe?
Removing a child from danger should mark the beginning of her protection. The account attributed to Umair demands a clear answer supported by evidence.
At thirteen, a child deserves time to learn, to make mistakes, to form friendships and to discover who she wants to become. Areeba was entitled to that future.
We cannot know her final thoughts, the speed of her heartbeat or the precise sensations she experienced. Her last moments belong to a life she can no longer describe for herself.
But the absence of those details does not diminish the horror of her death. We can recognise the vulnerability of a child exposed to gunfire. We can mourn the years she lost. We can insist that her life deserves more than a passing sentence beneath the word “operation.”
She was a daughter and an elder sister. Her right to live did not depend on an officer recognising his own child in her face. It belonged to her because she was a human being.
On 28 January 2019, Geo News reported that Areeba’s post-mortem examination recorded six gunshot wounds and evidence of firing at close range.
The report also described multiple gunshot wounds suffered by the other deceased occupants. It stated that Muneeba’s hand injury was caused by a bullet, correcting earlier accounts that attributed it to broken glass. Geo News — Post-mortem findings, 28 January 2019
These findings give terrible weight to the questions surrounding the shooting. They concern the use of lethal force against people inside a vehicle, including a thirteen-year-old girl.
Medical evidence cannot tell us what Areeba thought. It can help establish what happened to her. Preserving and properly examining that evidence is part of the responsibility owed to her and every other victim.
Initial CTD explanations described an operation against suspected terrorists. Eyewitness accounts and the surviving children’s statements challenged the department’s account of the incident. The News — Initial reporting
According to Geo News’s April 2019 review, the JIT characterised the incident as a botched operation and described unprovoked firing. It placed operational responsibility on personnel involved in the shooting and identified negligence and administrative failures among supervising officers.
The JIT alleged that Zeeshan had links to Daesh, while finding that Khalil and his family had no knowledge of his alleged activities. Those allegations must remain attributed to the investigation. They were not a criminal conviction of Zeeshan. Geo News — JIT findings
The investigation therefore raised questions extending beyond the moment a weapon was fired: how the operation was planned, what information personnel received, how they assessed the occupants, and how evidence was handled afterwards.
Umair, Muneeba and Hadia survived. Their survival deserves sustained attention and care.
Losing parents and a sibling together creates an absence that reaches into ordinary life: the family table, the journey home, the milestones at which loved ones should be present. Reporting should respect the children’s privacy and avoid presuming to describe their private grief.
Children affected by such violence deserve access to appropriate care, educational continuity, trusted caregivers and protection from intimidation. Their wellbeing should remain a priority after public attention moves elsewhere.
A child who speaks about violence should be listened to carefully. Their account should be investigated seriously, without making that child carry the burden of securing accountability alone.
In January 2019, the family’s lawyer alleged that relatives were receiving threats from CTD personnel. Geo News reported that these concerns had been communicated to the authorities and the JIT. These were allegations made by the lawyer, rather than findings established by that news report. Geo News — Family lawyer’s allegations, 28 January 2019
Such allegations require serious examination. Families must be able to participate in proceedings without fearing further harm.
A credible accountability process needs reliable evidence, competent investigation and witnesses who can speak safely. Public promises cannot substitute for those conditions.
On 24 October 2019, an anti-terrorism court in Lahore acquitted all six accused CTD personnel, giving them the benefit of doubt. Reporting described failures of witness identification during the proceedings.
The following day, then-prime minister Imran Khan directed the Punjab government to challenge the verdict. The News — Acquittal and government response, 25 October 2019
The acquittal is an essential part of the record. The accused must not be described as convicted perpetrators.
At the same time, the deaths, the reported investigative findings and the concerns about the prosecution remain part of the public record. A responsible account must explain both the human loss and the legal outcome.
The Punjab government challenged the acquittal in the Lahore High Court in October 2019. Its appeal argued that the investigation or witness testimony had failed and that relevant forensic material and JIT findings had not been properly considered. These were the government’s arguments on appeal. Business Recorder — Appeal against acquittal, 29 October 2019
The Lahore High Court adjourned the appeal hearing in January 2022. Dawn — 18 January 2022
A further development was reported by The News on 5 August 2026. Advocate Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta had challenged the rejection of his request to assist the prosecution. During the Supreme Court proceedings, he stated that the government’s appeal against acquittal remained pending in the Lahore High Court.
The Supreme Court requested documents concerning the objection to his application and adjourned the hearing. The report did not announce a reversal of the acquittals or a final determination of criminal responsibility. The News — Supreme Court proceedings, 5 August 2026
This article includes that reported development; it does not claim a later final judgment.
The Sahiwal case leaves questions that deserve clear, evidence-based answers:
The sources reviewed here do not establish an order to kill everyone in the car. Establishing any unlawful orders, individual actions or supervisory failures requires evidence.
These questions concern the exercise of public power. Families should be able to expect answers when a state operation ends in the deaths of their loved ones.
Samaritan’s Fellowship believes that accountability must apply equally to people holding public office and to ordinary citizens.
A uniform carries responsibility. Where unlawful conduct is established, rank or institutional affiliation should provide no protection from accountability. Equally, allegations must be examined through a fair process that determines individual responsibility.
Our position is straightforward: police should protect life, investigate offences and bring suspects before a credible legal process. Punishment must not be delivered through roadside gunfire.
Readers can explore related questions in our stories on CCD encounters and due process in Punjab and the Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar staged-encounter case. Each case has its own evidence and legal history; together, they underline why scrutiny of lethal force matters.
For Samaritan’s Fellowship Foundation Pakistan, documenting this case means preserving the names and humanity of those who died while supporting informed discussion about rights and accountability.
We call for:
These commitments reflect our broader work for dignity, inclusion and community empowerment. Read our statement on pluralism, peace and equal rights.
This article documents publicly reported events. Samaritan’s Fellowship does not claim to have represented the Sahiwal family or participated in the investigation.
Remembering a case can encourage people to learn, speak responsibly and support practical work for vulnerable communities.
You can help by sharing this article with its sources, reading our other human-rights stories, and contacting Samaritan’s Fellowship about collaboration and awareness initiatives.
You can also support our work or contribute through Every.org. Contributions support our broader mission and programmes; this article is not a direct fundraising appeal for the Sahiwal family.
The court record matters. The investigation matters. So do the lives that existed before either began.
Khalil, Nabeela, Areeba and Zeeshan deserve to be remembered by name. The surviving children deserve dignity, privacy and the opportunity to build their futures.
Areeba’s story asks us to hold on to something painfully simple: she was a child travelling with her family, with years of life still ahead.
She was thirteen. She deserved to come home.
It concerns the 19 January 2019 shooting in which CTD personnel killed Mohammad Khalil, his wife Nabeela, their daughter Areeba and driver Zeeshan Javed near Sahiwal. Three children survived. The shooting led to investigations, a criminal trial and subsequent proceedings.
Areeba was thirteen years old when she was killed.
Wikipedia, citing a Pakistan Point report, attributes that account to her surviving brother Umair. It should be reported with that attribution. Geo News’s review of the JIT separately describes three children being removed before further firing, without independently establishing the specific removal-and-return account concerning Areeba.
No. The six accused were acquitted in October 2019 on the benefit of doubt. The Punjab government challenged the decision.
The article includes a 5 August 2026 report about related Supreme Court proceedings concerning a lawyer’s request to assist the prosecution. That report did not announce that the acquittals had been overturned.
To preserve the victims’ humanity, promote awareness of rights and encourage evidence-based discussion about police accountability, survivor protection and equal treatment under the law.
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