The journalist unions in Peshawar held a joint meeting on Monday to condemn the killing of a senior journalist in Swabi and the 'kidnapping or disappearances' of others, and formed a committee to highlight the issue with high-ranking government officials.
In their meeting, the journalist associated with the Peshawar Press Club (PPC) and the Khyber Union of Journalists (KHuJ) noted an increase in violence against journalists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
On Thursday, journalist Haroon Khan was gunned down outside his house in Swabi town. Khan was a correspondent for Waqt News TV and was earlier affiliated with Akhbar-i-Khaiber and Mashriq TV.
Three days later, on Sunday, a Peshawar-based journalist, Shahnawaz Tarkzai, was picked up by unidentified men. According to reports, Tarakzai — a reporter for Mashal Radio — was picked up while visiting the media centre in Shabqadar by suspects who fled the scene afterwards.
“For the last two days we have been trying to trace the whereabouts of Shahnawaz but all in vain,” a friend of the missing journalist told, adding that family and friends were highly concerned about Shahnawaz.
Shahnawaz's friend added that a committee formed for the recovery of missing journalists is yet to decide on whether to register a first information report or not.
Another young radio journalist from Khyber Agency, Islam Gul Afridi, reportedly disappeared on Sunday evening, friends and family members said.
Afridi, who was associated with Radio Pakistan, among other news websites, was in Islamabad on a private tour, his relatives said. "For the past two days Afridi has not been in contact with his family and his phone was switched off," they added.
“We don’t know where he is,” Gul's family member told, expressing his family's confusion on how to handle the situation.
PPC President Alamgir Khan told that they have received reports that another journalist, Junaid Khan, from Swat was also missing. He termed the disappearances as an attempt to pressurise the journalists and bar them from performing their duties.
“We will highlight the issue of missing journalists with the concerned authorities for their safe recovery and future security,” Alamgir said.
So far no group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the missing journalists.
