Pakistan urges Australia to ensure security of its nationals

Pakistan urged Australia on Friday to ensure security of its nationals days after a Pakistani student was killed in Australia. The Foreign Ministry said 28-year-old Kamran Yousaf was shot dead in Western Sydney on October 12 during a robbery at the fruit shop the deceased was working. "While appreciating the government of Australia's early action in arresting the culprits and facilitating in dispatch of the body of late Kamran Yousaf, we urge that appropriate steps should be taken to ensure the security and safety of Pakistanis living and studying in Australia," a Foreign Ministry statement said. The Pakistani embassy is in contact with the local authorities and will continue to pursue the matter to bring the killers to justice, it said. The statement said the news has been received with deep sorrow and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses sympathies with the bereaved family on the irreparable loss. Yousaf had left his home in Jalalpur Jattan in Pakistan's Punjab Province and arrived in Sydney in December last year to study at the King's Own Institute in central Sydney. The Pakistan Association of Australia has condemned the brutal murder of Yousaf and said the incident will send a bad message for students seeking education in Australia.