A number of tribal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa journalists were facing severe problems due to frequent threats and attacks by unidentified militants.
Most of journalists have abandoned homes whereas either they have giving up their profession or going underground for their safety, said speakers of one-day seminar on safety of Pak-Afghan journalists that was held in local hotel of metropolis on Monday.
Speakers of the seminar said that 98 journalists have been killed since 9/11 throughout Pakistan; half of them were belonging to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and adjoining Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Afghan journalist while addressing on the occasion said that one Afghan journalist Pir Reham Dil Shah, working for Pushto daily in Peshawar, had abandoned his home in January and shifted to an unidentified place.
Speaker added that family of Shah confirmed that they were first threatened by unidentified callers when Taliban charged his Afghan colleague for spying for US troops.
Speakers revealed that journalists have been fleeing their hometowns since 2005 and dozens of them were living as refuges in Peshawar, Islamabad and other cities across the country. However, the displacement was intensified following assassination of private TV reporter Malak Mumtaz on February 27th, it was stated.
Several journalists from Peshawar, mostly associated with English newspaper and foreign media houses, are also under threat and these journalists do not show up at their offices and other public places and perform their duties from homes, journalists belonging to Pakistan said.
Frontier Post
