Another Pakistani journalist shot dead in 48 hours

15:37, September 17, 2010

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Another senior Pakistani journalist has been shot dead in the country's northwest in two days, a media group said Friday.

Mujeebur Rehman Saddiqui, a correspondent of the daily Pakistan was killed by gunmen in Dargai in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday evening, said the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ).

It is the second murder of a reporter in the northwest province in 48 hours, raising the toll of the murdered journalists to 24 after 9/11, said Shamsul Islam Naz, the PFUJ Secretary General.

Gunmen killed tribal journalist Misri Khan in the town of Hangu on Tuesday. Taliban has claimed responsibility for Khan's killing.

Expressing concern over the murder of Saddiqui, the union demanded immediate probe into the killing.

Saddiqui, 39, was a founder member of the Press Club in Malakand area and has been in the profession for the last two decades. He was also a famous poet of the area.

He leaves behind two sons, a daughter and a widow.

Area journalists claimed that the deceased had no enmity with any person and he was shot dead by militants who were not happy with his reporting.

Reports reaching the PFUJ Secretariat revealed that he was shot by unidentified gunmen when he came out of a mosque after evening prayers in Dargai.

He received two bullet wounds and was rushed to the Peshawar Hospital but succumbed to his injuries before any medical aid.

The motive for the killing is not yet clear. He had, however, reportedly received a number of death threats from militants for his uncompromising reporting.

The union said that Saddiqui's killing is yet another terrible reminder of how dangerous it is for media persons to discharge their professional duties in the danger zones, especially in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The PFUJ joins Siddiqui's family and colleagues in mourning his death and demands that authorities take immediate steps to bring his killers to justice.

Source: Xinhua