On September 21, 2025, gunmen on two motorcycles pulled alongside Metro 1 News journalist Imtiaz Mir’s vehicle and opened fire in Karachi’s Malir district. Mir, 48, sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died eight days later after surgery at Pakistan’s Liaquat National Hospital. His older brother, Mohammed Salih, was also wounded in the attack.
Sindh Province Home Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar announced on October 27 that four suspects had been arrested in connection to the journalist’s murder, following raids by police and intelligence services in Karachi.
Police named the men as Ajlal Zaidi, Shahab Asghar, Ahsan Abbas and Faraz Ahmed, all of whom were identified as members of militant group Lashkar Sarullah. At a press conference, Lanjar said the suspects were taking orders from a ringleader abroad, without elaborating.
Lashkar Sarullah is an offshoot of the Zaynabiyoun Brigade, an Iran-backed Shiite militant group designated by the United States as a terrorist organization in 2019 and banned in Pakistan last year.
Since the arrests, progress in the case has stalled and no formal charges have been brought against any of the suspects, according to Iqbal Khattak, director of Freedom Network Pakistan, a press freedom group.
Mir’s family has alleged that the Sindh government and Karachi police have been uncooperative, Khattak said. Mir’s brother, Riaz Mir, has disputed the identity of the suspects and claimed that police have not collected phone location data, CCTV or eye-witness evidence. Investigators have also failed to present forensic evidence, he said.
Police meanwhile said the case has been compromised because the family incorrectly registered a complaint, saying Mir’s death was the result of a family dispute, and has refused to identify suspects, according to Khattak.
Pakistani officials said Lashkar Sarullah targeted Mir because of a trip he took to Israel and his perceived sympathies for the nation, according to news reports.
In 2023, Mir visited Israel as part of a delegation of journalists. After returning, he invited Israel-based guests to appear on his talk show, according to two journalists in Karachi who spoke to CPJ anonymously for fear of reprisal.
Sindh police chief Gholam Nabi Memon did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app on December 8, 2025.