Pakistan journalist among three killed in bomb blast in restive Balochistan

Three people, including a senior journalist, were killed and eight others injured in a bomb blast that targeted his vehicle in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province on Friday, police said.

A remote-controlled roadside bomb was planted near Chomrok Chowk on the outskirts of Khuzdar town and when Maulana Siddique Mengal, a senior journalist and also the president of the Khuzdar Press Club, reached the spot, the bomb was set off, a senior police official said.

“Maulana Mengal and two other passersby were killed in the blast, while eight others were injured and taken to the hospital,” he said.

Mengal was also a provincial office-bearer of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) party. He also used to write for a local newspaper, “Watan”. The attack on the senior journalist happened on a day when World Press Freedom Day was observed.

A police official said that it is still too early to say whether Mengal was targeted because of his media work or because of his work as a provincial office bearer of the JUI-F.

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti strongly condemned the attack and directed the Inspector General of Police to arrest the culprits.

The Balochistan Union of Journalists (BUJ) also staged a demonstration against the killing of Mengal and demanded that the provincial government should arrest the killers at the earliest.

Balochistan has been witnessing a series of terrorist activities for several years.

Most recently, on Thursday, at least one died and 20 others were injured in twin landmine blasts that occurred near Thaikedar Naddi in the Duki district of Balochistan.

The first explosion occurred when a truck hit a landmine, followed by a second blast as people gathered at the scene.

On Friday, unknown assailants opened fire in the Kali Tarata area of Pishin district and injured two senior police officers, including a DSP and SHO.

In a similar incident in the Tump area of the district, two labourers were killed by armed men.

In 2023, Pakistan ranked 150 out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), a non-profit that defends and promotes freedom of information.

According to a report by Freedom Network, an independent national media watchdog, at least 53 journalists were murdered in the country from 2012 to 2022. Only in two cases have convictions been obtained.