Senior journalist shot dead in northwest Pakistan over Eid holiday

PESHAWAR: Unidentified assailants on Tuesday shot dead a senior journalist, Khalil Jibran, in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a police official said, in the latest incident of violence in the restive region during the three-day Eid Al-Adha holiday.
The northwestern Pakistani province, which borders Afghanistan, has been the scene of a number of attacks on police, security forces and anti-polio vaccination teams in recent weeks.
Jibran, a former president of the Landi Kotal Press club in KP’s Khyber tribal district, was en route to his home in the district headquarters of Landi Kotal, when he came under attack by the suspects.
“He [Jibran] was coming back from his friend’s hujra [guest room] after dinner when he was killed by unknown assailants,” Saleem Abbas Kulachi, Khyber district police chief, told Arab News
“Police found bullet shells of M4 and AK-47 [rifles] at the scene,” he added.
The development came days after the Pakistani Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) announced a three-day ceasefire with the government in Islamabad from June 17 till June 19 on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha.
KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur condemned Jibran’s killing and extended his heartfelt sympathies to the deceased’s family, according to his office.
“Police have been asked to take necessary action for immediate arrest of the suspects,” it said.
Journalist bodies have announced a protest against Jibran’s killing across all tribal districts of the province on Thursday.
Separately, three bodies were found in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan tribal district, while a religious party leader, who was injured in a shooting in the South Waziristan district last week, succumbed to his wounds on Tuesday, according to officials. No group claimed responsibility for the killings.
Pakistan has witnessed a spike in militant violence in its two western provinces, KP and Balochistan, since the TTP called off its fragile truce with the government in November 2022.
Islamabad has blamed the surge in violence on militants operating out of neighboring Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegation and says rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue of Islamabad.