British family shot dead in graveyard on trip to Pakistan wedding

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12 April 2012

A British couple and their daughter were gunned down in a graveyard in Pakistan after their son's arranged marriage sparked a "family dispute".

Mohammad and Pervaze Yousaf and daughter Tania, 22, were visiting for a wedding when they were attacked.

They were killed at a village in the north-east district of Gujrat early yesterday after a row over the relationship between the couple's son and a local woman, according to a family friend.

Two of the alleged gunmen were arrested and police were hunting two more suspects over the attack, which left another woman dead.

Family friend Mohammed Iqbal claimed the family, from Nelson, Lancashire, were killed while paying their respects during a visit to a cemetery.

Mr Iqbal, who sits on Pendle borough and Lancashire county councils, said: "It was a family dispute that obviously went horribly wrong. Mr Yousaf's son was married to a girl from Pakistan and there have been some problems with the marriage." He added that two of Mr Yousaf's sons had returned early to Lancashire from Pakistan but flew back out 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."

Mr Iqbal said he had known taxi driver Mr Yousaf for 20 years. The whole family was "devastated".

Area police chief Ghulam Sarwar said the family's son wed the sister of one of the attackers in Britain 12 years ago. But their marriage broke down and led to a separation that caused rivalry between the families. Another family member, Eileen Ansar, said the dispute arose after the marriage breakdown between Mr Yousaf's eldest son and his wife, whom she would not name.

Ms Ansar, the wife of Mr Yousaf's cousin Mohammed, said: "There have been tensions since the son and girl separated but the father treated her like his own daughter.

"Most of the family went out to Pakistan for the wedding of his eldest son Asad but he and his wife stayed on for a few days after. They had gone to a cemetery to pay their respects to those who had passed away since they had last visited the country. Four men approached them and started firing.

"It is a tragedy. You could not meet nicer people, they never did harm to anyone. It has destroyed the family."

Ms Ansar, a councillor in Nelson, said about 70 members of the extended family have now flown out.

The Foreign Office said it is investigating reports of the shooting.

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