Pakistani PM Imran Khan criticised after calling Osama Bin Laden a ‘martyr’

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has come under fire from opposition MPs after telling parliament that the US “martyred” Osama Bin Laden.

Bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was killed in 2011 when US special forces raided his hideout in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

Pakistan was not informed in advance.

“I will never forget how we Pakistanis were embarrassed when the Americans came into Abbottabad and killed Osama Bin Laden, martyred him,” Khan said.

Khan used the word “shaheed” – a reverential Arabic term for a martyr of Islam.

Opposition leader and former Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif criticised Mr Khan, calling Bin Laden an “ultimate terrorist”.

“He destroyed my nation, and [Khan] is calling him a martyr,” Mr Asif said in parliament.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, whose Pakistan Peoples Party was in power when Bin Laden was killed, accused the prime minister of appeasing violent extremism.

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