Exiled Pakistani Reporter Shot Dead in Kenya

Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif was shot dead in Kenya, his wife and Kenyan authorities said Monday.

“I lost friend, husband and my favourite journalist Arshad today, as per police he was shot in Kenya,” Sharif’s wife Javeria Siddique wrote on Twitter.

Sharif was killed at a roadstop in Nairobi late Sunday while traveling by car.

Local police claimed the killing was a case of “mistaken identity,” as Kenyan authorities were on the hunt for a similar vehicle which was involved in a child abduction.

Sharif was earlier employed by the Pakistani ARY News outlet, where he pursued investigative journalism and interviewed leading Pakistani public figures.

He was a critic of Pakistan’s powerful military and a backer of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Rumors have swirled in Pakistani media and public that Sharif was assassinated.

In August, Sharif interviewed Khan’s Chief of Staff Shahbaz Gill, who stayed on with the former PM even after Khan was removed from office in April. During the interview, which was broadcast on the ARY TV channel, Gill called on soldiers to refuse “illegal orders,” stirring controversy.

Gill was arrested after the interview, with a warrant also issued for Sharif. In addition, the reporter was fired from ARY News in late August, with Sharif then fleeing to Dubai and later Kenya.