Media: Journalist's home attacked with explosives in South Waziristan tribal area

Source: IFEX

(PPF/IFEX) - The home of Jawed Noor, a senior correspondent for the daily "Mashriq" and president of the Wanna Press Club, was extensively damaged by the detonation of an explosive device placed by unidentified individuals on the night of 20 October 2011. The incident took place in Wanna, the headquarters of the South Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan.

Noor told PPF that a bag of explosives was placed outside his house. He said was in Peshawar at the time of attack but that his family members, all of whom are safe, were awakened by the blast. According to Noor, the walls and window panes of the house were damaged.

Noor said he had received death threats via telephone calls a few days earlier, but he failed to take notice of them. He said there are many militant groups in the FATA who do not want journalists to publish the truth or any news against them.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), the Tribal Union of Journalists (TUJ) and other journalists' entities condemned the attack and called on the government to provide full protection to journalists.

In condemning the incident, TUJ president Safdar Hayaat Dawar said that FATA journalists are becoming easy prey for militants but that they will not be silenced. He said that countrywide protests would be staged if the attacks on journalists do not stop.