Senior Pakistani journalist killed by bikers

A senior Pakistani journalist was killed by bikers who opened fire on him in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, situated in the north-western region of the country, on April 30. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) in condemning the brutal killing and calls on authorities to investigate the case and locate the perpetrators.

PFUJ

Aman Ullah Gharro, from Dera Ismail Khan located about 300 kilometres south of the provincial capital Peshawar, was in the jurisdiction of University Police Station near Lunda Sharif attack when he was shot and killed by unknown bikers.

Aman Ullah Gharro was working for Janbaz, a local television, and has filed news against non-state actors allegedly involved in terrorism. Aman also worked as a correspondent for a local newspaper Meezan-e-Adal.

The PFUJ demand the local administration to take early action to arrest the culprits and put them behind bars while also calling on the Punjab Government to take necessary action to provide safe environment to the journalists to perform their duties in the region.

“A number of journalists have been subject to terrorism and lost their lives in the line of duty but the law enforcement agencies had failed to provide justice to the victim families," the PFUJ leadership said.

This is not the first killing of a journalist in the troubled region. Aman Ullah Gharro was the third journalist to be directly targeted and killed in the KP province of Pakistan within the last 12 months and the fourth journalist killed in Pakistan in the period May 1 to April 30.

On October 16, journalist Sohail Khan was shot dead after reporting a story on a local drug cartel in the region. He had just left the District Police Office after filing a police-protection application relating to multiple death threats. On December 3, a second journalist Noor ul Hassan, of Royal TV, was killed when two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a car carrying the journalist.

The IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "This is a tragic and senseless killing on the eve of World Press Freedom Day that brings to light the dangers for journalists working in the toughest parts of Pakistan. We call on the provincial police to investigate this brutal murder and determine if the connection was work-related and to refer the matter to appropriate bodies at national level. The frequent attacks against journalists and media workers in Pakistan continues to blight the country."

For further information contact IFJ Asia - Pacific on [email protected]

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 140 countries

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