PESHAWAR (Web Desk) – Samiullah Afridi, one of the lawyers defending Dr Shakil Afridi, was shot dead near Mithra Road in Peshawar on Tuesday.
Reports said unidentified gunmen opened fire at the vehicle of the lawyer and fled leaving him wounded fatally. He later succumbed to his gunshot wounds at the hospital.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s faction Jundullah claimed the responsibility for the killing.
Samiullah had fled to Dubai in December 2013 after he received threats from militants, but was visiting Pakistan in connection with the case.
Afridi had helped the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency to locate al-Qaeda head Osama bin Laden in the garrison town of Abottabad.
Pakistani security forces held him immediately after the May-2, 2011 raid.
Authorities ordered a retrial of the doctor after the international community raised concerns over his first trial that concluded with 86-year imprisonment sentence.
Afridi was jailed for 33 years in May 2012 after he was convicted of ties to militants, though some US lawmakers said the case was revenge for Afridi helping in the search for the al Qaeda chief.
Afridi is currently detained at Central Jail, Peshawar.
Serious threats loom on the family of Dr Afridi, according to American media, his wife along with her children fled the native province to hide in Punjab.
