Reports name them as Mohammad Yousaf, his wife Pervaiz and daughter Tanya
A BRITISH couple and their daughter were shot dead at a cemetery in Pakistan as part of a family feud while visiting the country for a wedding, police said Friday.
They were killed as they paid their respects at the tomb of a relative on Thursday near the town of Gujrat in eastern Pakistan.
Reports named them as Mohammad Yousaf, his wife Pervaiz and their 22-year-old daughter Tanya, from Nelson in Lancashire, northwest England.
“This is a family feud,” Pakistani district police officer Tariq Abbas Qureshi told AFP by telephone.
Five gunmen opened fire, killing the couple and their daughter in a hail of bullets at Mararian village. One of the gunmen was also killed and one was arrested, but three others were on the run.
“One of the culprits has already been arrested and we hope to arrest three others very soon,” said Qureshi.
A friend of the family in Britain also said they were killed in a “family dispute” while paying their respects at a cemetery.
Mohammed Iqbal told Sky News TV: “They were leaving the graveyard of someone that had passed away. It was a family dispute that obviously went horribly wrong.”
He said two of Yousaf’s sons had returned to Lancashire from Pakistan early but had now flown back to the country after being told of the deaths.
He said: “They went for a wedding and a holiday and they are now having to bury members of their family.”
The British High Commission in Islamabad confirmed that three British citizens were killed on Thursday, saying it was offering consular assistance to the family and was in touch with Pakistani authorities.
Lancashire Police said officers were providing support to family members in Britain and were working with authorities in Pakistan.
A spokesman said: “Three members of a family from Nelson who were visiting the country for a wedding were killed in a shooting incident.
“The circumstances surrounding the deaths are unclear at this time but police in Lancashire are liaising with the authorities in Pakistan to ascertain exactly what has happened.
The Foreign Office said it was investigating reports of the shooting.
