QUETTA: A local journalist working for a newspaper was shot at and critically injured on Friday, official authorities said.

Jamil Ahmed, who is a sub-editor at daily Azadi, was going home after completing his shift late at night when armed men shot him several times in the Kirani road area on the outskirts of Quetta, authorities said.

“Four bullets are lodged in his body,” officials said on Saturday, adding that Mr Ahmed had been shifted to the Trauma Centre of the Civil Hospital Quetta and was in a critical condition.

The motive for the firing is not known yet since the shooters escaped after the attack. “Investigation is under way. So far, no one has claimed responsibility,” said police officials.

Meanwhile, journalist bodies such as the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and the Balochistan Union of Journalists condemned the incident and demanded immediate arrest of the persons behind the attack. They said such incidents were happening across the country with the government failing to arrest attackers and was also unsuccessful in protecting the lives of journalists as past cases have indicated.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2019