Journalist shot dead in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

KABUL (Pajhwok): Unidentified gunmen have shot dead a local journalist in the Karak district of Pakistan’ northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The incident occurred in the Batani Khel area, of the Karak Police Station. The victim was identified as Waseem Alam, joint editor of a local newspaper.

Alam was returning home on his motorcycle on Saturday evening when he was targeted near the Batani Khel Government School, Aalam’s mother said.

Wounded in the attack, the journalist was evacuated to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

At least 70 have been killed in the country in the last two decades, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

At least 10 journalists were murdered and several others threatened, kidnapped, tortured and arrested on trumped-up charges while discharging their professional responsibilities last year alone, says the 2020 Media Freedom Report.

Iqbal Khattak, head of RSF in Pakistan, said the situation for journalists in the country had deteriorated over the past few years and their killers were not being persecuted.

Khalid Khattak, head of the Karak Press Club, said Alam had been a member of the club for nearly 11 years and was currently head of its grand committee.

He added the slain journalist often highlighted the problems of the area.

sa/mud

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