Journalist killed in violent attack in Punjab, Pakistan

Journalist Muhammad Abid died on August 23 as the result of injuries he sustained during an attack in Borewala Tehsil, Punjab of Pakistan. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) in condemning the brutal murder.

Abid, 25, a local correspondent in Dewan Sahib town was allegedly attacked by two men in the evening on August 22, PFUJ said that the assailants, Tahir Hussain and Muhammad Imran, had targeted Abid for exposing some alleged wrongdoings by the men. Abid sustained serious head injuries in the attack and later died in hospital.

PFUJ said police have registered the case and are investigating.

The PFUJ said: “The journalists in Pakistan have been facing such situations and sacrificing their lives in the line of duty while in almost all such cases, there is impunity. We demand the new government to pay attention and arrest the culprits to present them before the court of law so that the killed journalist can have justice.”

Abid is the third journalist to be murdered in a targeted attack in Pakistan this year, Sub-editor Anjum Muneer Raja was killed in Rawalpindi on March 1 and journalist Zeeshan Ashraf Butt was shot dead on March 27.