He was targeted and shot brutally to weaken the struggle for freedom in Azad Kashmir. 62-year-old Arif Shahid, the chief of All Parties National Alliance (APNA), was killed by unknown persons who opened indiscriminate fire on him while he was returning home from his office in Rawalpindi. Shahid was not in the good books of Pakistani agencies, who hated his nationalist politics and struggle for Azad Kashmir. Kashmiri leaders, along with members of APNA, staged a sit-in along with the dead body and demanded the arrest of killers. The leaders from Azad Kashmir called Shahid a martyr and said his death was a big loss.