British family viciously beaten by land grabbers

ISLAMABAD: A British family was viciously beaten and shot at by a mob of 'land grabbers' illegally occupying their house in Pakistan, British media reported.

Footage shows roughly a dozen men pouring out of the property and attacking the unnamed family with sticks and even firing a gun at them.

The family, who can be heard speaking with British accents, walk over to the entrance of the property in the village of Mastala, Gujar Khan where a tractor can be seen moving towards the entrance.

Then without warning, around a dozen armed men run out and begin thrashing the British men, who later insisted they were merely just trying to speak with the squatters.

Chaos ensues, as sticks are used to make sickening blows on the men who start retreating quickly.

The sound of a gunshot rings out, and a man can be seen in the video firing indiscriminately with a firearm.

As the Britons, who are wearing Shalwar Qameez, rush back to a safe property, the woman filming can be heard screaming 'Come inside, come inside!'

The camera then turns around to see one of the men severely bloodied, and the panicked woman filming says 'Please go inside, you're bleeding!'

Land grabbing is a major issue in Pakistan, which sees gangs referred to as the 'Land Mafia' illegally occupy properties.

Also known as the Qabza mafia, they will target properties owned by Pakistanis who live overseas who are then made to endure years of grinding bureaucracy through the justice system to wrestle control of their property back.

The problem has been evident for years, with some of the leaders of these property gangs allegedly having links to prominent political parties in Pakistan.