Pakistani police commando arrested after fatal shooting of Australian child 

  A member of Pakistan’s elite police commando unit has been arrested and placed in custody after a shooting incident in which a 9-year-old Australian girl was killed and two other members of her family were seriously injured in what authorities have described as a tragic case of mistaken identity.

The incident occurred on Wednesday evening in Chakwal, a city in Punjab province about 100 kilometres southwest of Islamabad. The victims were an Australian family from Kewdale, a suburb of Perth, who had recently arrived in Pakistan to visit relatives following their pilgrimage to Mecca.

According to a statement from the Punjab Police Crime Control Department, the family was travelling in a rental vehicle when they were intercepted and robbed at gunpoint by two armed men on a motorcycle. The attackers fled the scene shortly afterwards, prompting the family to drive off in haste.

However, responding officers from the Punjab Police Elite Force reportedly misinterpreted the situation and opened fire on the moving vehicle, believing it to be connected to the fleeing suspects.

“In the ensuing confusion, the officer involved mistakenly assessed that the vehicle was being used by the suspects and discharged his weapon,” the department said in its preliminary findings. “As the vehicle sped away immediately after the robbery, it was wrongly identified as part of the criminal escape.”

The gunfire struck all three passengers inside the car. Nine-year-old Hania Ahmed, a fourth-grade student, died from her injuries. Her father, 39-year-old engineer Adeel Ahmed, and her 11-year-old brother, Aafan, were also hit and remain under medical care following emergency surgery at Benazir Bhutto Hospital in Rawalpindi. The children’s mother was not in the vehicle at the time and was not harmed.

Authorities confirmed that the officer who fired the shots has been arrested and suspended from duty pending investigation. A murder case has been registered, and a Joint Investigation Team has been formed to review the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

The two motorcycle robbers involved in the initial incident were later tracked and killed in a separate police operation, officials added.

The case has triggered widespread outrage in Pakistan and Australia, with questions raised over operational protocols and the use of lethal force in fast-moving security situations.

Pakistan’s Punjab Police said it had launched an internal review, stating: “While our personnel operate in high-risk environments, any deviation from established procedures will be thoroughly investigated, and accountability will be ensured.”

The tragedy has also drawn diplomatic attention. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed condolences and called for full transparency in the investigation, noting that Australian officials were in contact with Pakistani authorities.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that consular support teams have been deployed to assist the surviving family members in Rawalpindi as investigations continue.