ISLAMABAD: An international organization that advocates for the rights of journalists has urged Pakistan to immediately release a reporter who was arrested for his coverage of this week’s violent clash between minority Pashtuns and troops in a northwestern region near the Afghan border.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based group, in Tuesday’s statement says Gohar Wazir, a reporter working for the private TV station Khyber News, was detained in the town of Bannu after reporting on the demonstration of the Pashtun Protection Movement, a group campaigning against the perceived high-handedness by security forces.
The arrest came days after the group led by two lawmakers clashed with troops at an army post in the North Waziristan district, setting off a shootout that wounded five troops and killed three activists.
International group asks Pakistan to release journalist
International group asks Pakistan to release journalist
- Reporter was arrested for his coverage of this week's violent clash
- Gohar Wazir is working for the private channel
Pakistan expresses solidarity with Canada as school shooting claims 9 lives
- At least 9 dead, 27 wounded in shooting incident at secondary school, residence in British Columbia on Tuesday
- Officials say the shooter was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after the incident
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday expressed solidarity with Canada as a high school shooting incident in a British Columbia town left at least nine dead, more than 20 others injured.
Six people were found at the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School while a seventh died on the way to the hospital, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said in a statement on Tuesday. Two other people were found dead at a home that police believe is connected to the shooting at the school. A total of 27 people were wounded in the attack.
In an initial emergency alert, police described the suspect as a “female in a dress with brown hair,” with officials saying she was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“Saddened by the tragic shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia,” Sharif wrote on social media platform X.
He conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims, wishing a swift recovery to those injured in the attack.
“Pakistan stands in solidarity with the people and Government of Canada in this difficult time,” he added.
Canadian police have not yet released any information about the age of the shooter or the victims.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “devastated” by the violence, announcing he had suspended plans to travel to the Munich Security Conference on Wednesday.
While mass shootings are rare in Canada, last April, a vehicle attack that targeted a Filipino cultural festival in Vancouver killed 11 people.
British Columbia Premier David Eby called the latest violence “unimaginable.”
Nina Krieger, British Columbia’s minister of public safety, described it as one of the “worst mass shootings” in Canada’s history.
