Gunmen Kill Journalist In North-Western Pakistan

A journalist was on Wednesday was gunned down by unidentified gunmen in Swat, a valley in North-Western Pakistan that had once been under Taliban control, police said.

According to a local police official, Hazrat Mohammad, Javedullah Khan, who worked as Bureau Chief for the Urdu language newspaper, Ausaf, was shot dead in the Matta area, a former stronghold of the militants.

Khan was traveling when two gunmen targeted his vehicle and opened fire. He was rushed to the hospital and died while being attended to.
Mohammad said a case had been registered against the unknown assailants and police have commenced investigations.

Meanwhile, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
Amnesty International (AI) said that the tragedy underscored the dangers that journalists working in Pakistan, particularly areas affected by conflict, face.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said that Khan was the second journalist killed in February and urged the government to ensure the safety of journalists and bring perpetrators to justice.

Earlier, Aziz Memon, who worked for a privately-owned TV channel, was found strangled to death in an irrigation ditch in Sindh province.
Swat valley was once under Taliban control between 2007 and 2009 before being driven out in a military offensive.

Nobel laureate, Malala Yousafzai was shot there as a teenager by a Taliban gunman in 2012.

Violence has declined significantly in Pakistan in recent years after the country’s army pushed back Islamist militants in a series of offensives near the Afghan border.

NAN