ISLAMABAD: The mother of journalist Ahmed Noorani has filed a petition before the Islamabad High Court (IHC), alleging that two of her sons had been abducted.

According to the petition, Ameena Bashir stated her two sons were forcibly disappeared from their home in Islamabad’s Sector I-14 in the early hours of Wednesday.

The family has accused intelligence agencies of orchestrating the abduction, allegedly in retaliation for Noorani’s recent reporting. Mr Noorani is currently based in the US and runs the FactFocus website, which remains inaccessible in Pakistan.

The two men, Muhammad Saifur Rehman Haider and Muhammad Ali — both engineers by profession — were taken from their residence at around 1am.

According to their mother, around two dozen unidentified individuals stormed the family’s home, forcibly entered the premises and took the two away. The family also claims that the assailants also confiscated their mobile phones and deleted footage of the incident, recorded by one of their family members.

Ms Bashir filed the writ petition before the Islamabad High Court under Article 199 of the Constitution of Pakistan, through her counsel Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha, seeking the immediate release of her sons.

The petition names the Federation of Pakistan, the Ministry of Defence, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad, and the Station House Officer (SHO) of Police Station Noon as respondents.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2025