Ashrafuddin Pirzada
LANDIKOTAL: The son of a Bara-based tribal journalist was mysteriously found injured in a Hujra(male guest house) after he left his home with his friends in Bara tehsil of tribal district Khyber, police said on Tuesday.
Quoting journalist Muhammad Shafiq Afridi, Deputy Superintendent of Police(DSP) Bara Circle Swalzar Khan Afridi told reporters that journalist Shafiq Afridi’s son Attaullah Afridi had gone with his friends to the village in Bara. Swalzar Khan said after a few houses they found Attaullah Afridi critically injured in a nearby male guest house( hujra). He was shot and wounded in his neck.
DSP Swalzar Khan said they were investigating the incident as the gunmen had escaped the scene after committing the crime.
The injured person was immediately shifted to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar for medical treatment, where his condition was reported critical.
The journalist community has strongly condemned the second kind of incident in a month and appealed to the government and law enforcement agencies to swiftly apprehend those responsible for the attack and ensure they face severe legal consequences. Journalists and civil society demanded the government provide the best possible medical treatment to the injured journalist’s son.
Senior Journalist Shafiq Afridi told reporters that he was shocked when he heard about the incident. He said they are law-abiding citizens and have no enmity with anyone.
The journalist community also demanded that the federal and provincial governments take effective measures to protect journalists and their families.
It was the second incident just in a month after a similar attack on the senior journalist and Tribal Union of Journalists (TUJ) president’s sons attacked with knives in Peshawar.
On October 8, Geo television senior reporter Qazi Fazlullah’s two sons and nephew had been seriously injured in a knife attack in the Regi Lalma area of the limits of Nasirbagh police station in Peshawar.
Journalists expressed growing concerns that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially merged districts, were becoming increasingly dangerous for journalists and their families. They said the provincial government was failing to provide adequate protection to journalists and their families.
They demand urgent action to ensure the safety of media personnel in the region.
It may be mentioned here that on June 29, gunmen killed Landikotal press club former president Khalil Jibran Afridi near his home in Sultankhel village in Ladikotal and threatened his fellow
