An anti-terrorism court in Peshawar has issued arrest warrants for former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi and four other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) figures in the case over the attack on the Radio Pakistan building in Peshawar in May 2023. The warrants were issued during a hearing on Wednesday, after prosecutors presented a supplementary charge sheet naming the five as accused.

Who was named

Alongside Afridi, the warrants name former provincial ministers Taimur Saleem Jhagra and Kamran Bangash, PTI Peshawar district president Irfan Saleem, and party worker Aamir Khan Chamkani. The court, presided over by Judge Wali Muhammad, directed that the warrants be executed and adjourned proceedings until 4 November. A warrant is a procedural step in a criminal case: it does not by itself establish guilt, and the accused remain entitled to contest the charges.

A case from May 2023

The case relates to the storming, vandalism and arson at the Radio Pakistan building during protests that followed the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan on 9 May 2023. Prosecutors say identity-verification reports from the National Database and Registration Authority and forensic analysis from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency underpin the supplementary charge sheet, which was submitted on 13 October. Other accused in the wider case are already being tried, and nine accused in the Radio Pakistan cases remain absconding, according to court reporting.

What happens next

The development lands while Afridi's position is already contested: he ceased to hold office after emergency and governor's rule were imposed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on 11 October, and a separate petition concerning his detention is pending before the Peshawar High Court.

Sources: Dawn (via republication), Express Tribune (via summary), Dunya News via Shafaqna Pakistan.