KARACHI (NPTV/IFJ): In a tragic development, a record four journalists have been killed in the month of May, 2024 across Pakistan.
On World Press Freedom Day (3rd May, 2024) Khuzdar Press Club President and senior journalist Muhammad Siddique Mengal was killed after an unidentified motorcyclist attached and detonated an magnetic explosive device to his car.
Mengal had received death threats a month before the attacks and had survived a previous attempt on his life.
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) held rallies across Pakistan condemning the killing and demanding a swift investigation into his death.
Punjab journalist Mehar Ashfaq Siyal was killed on 15th May while travelling near Muzaffargarh, after two armed individuals shot him several times in his stomach.
Daily Khabrain journalist Mehar Ashfaq Siyal died while receiving medical treatment.
The Multan Regional Police Office has reportedly taken notice of the case, with a case registered by the journalist’s brother and investigations ongoing as of 17th May.
No progress has been made in identifying those responsible thus far.
On 21st May, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa digital journalist Kamran Dawar was killed outside his home in Tappi Village, in the North Waziristan district.
While police confirmed the killing was targeted, those responsible and their motives remain unclear. In Sindh, Awami Awaz journalist and critic of powerful rural landowners Nasrullah Gadani died on 24th May after unknown assailants shot him in his chest and abdomen while he was travelling via motorcycle near the Mirpur Mathelo town in Ghotki district, Sindh.
Shifted between three hospitals, he died in Karachi due to damage to his lungs.
Three suspects have been arrested, following the disbandment of an original investigative committee due to fears of its ineffectiveness.
Gadani’s killing has been met with condemnation from the media community and a trade union procession demonstrating outside the Karachi Press Club on 26th May, which condemned the “atrocities committed by tribal chiefs and feudal lords” and called for increased protections and benefits for the Media.
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