Category: Pakistan Politics

KARACHI, March 19: The ruling PML-N, which has its powerbase in Punjab, is looking to make forays into the stronghold of rival PPP after neglecting its Sindh chapter for almost four years. And as part of the plan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will tour rural Sindh to announce development packages in an effort to garner support for his party.

Premier Sharif alluded to the plan during his interaction with the Sindh-based leaders of his party in Karachi last week. “After Lahore, we have to win Lyari [the stronghold of the PPP in Karachi],” he had said. Sharif was advised by party leaders to live up to his earlier pledges of turning the focus to Sindh in order to change the perception that the PML-N’s politics was Punjab-centric.

PM ‘committed to Balochistan uplift’
“We have planned a number of activities in the coming days. We will see him [Premier Sharif] amongst us. He will not only interact with the people at the district level, but will also announce development packages for different cities and towns in Sindh,” a senior PML-N leader told The Express Tribune requesting anonymity.

“After his recent visits to Thatta and Karachi, the prime minister will now travel to Hyderabad on March 25 where he will meet the office-bearers of his party and business community,” he said. “A development package will also be announced for the city.”

The next mega event, according to sources, will be held in April in Jacobabad where Premier Sharif will address a big public gathering. “Rallies have also been planned in Jamshoro, Badin, Mirpurkhas and Dadu districts in the next couple of months,” he added.

Once hit by terror: Balochistan becoming ‘economic tiger of Pakistan’
Karachi-based PML-N leaders say Premier Sharif has decided to focus on Sindh after dozens of politicians quit his party accusing the prime minister and the party leadership of neglecting them. Prominent among them are Ghous Ali Shah, Hakeem Baloch and Mumtaz Bhutto, Liaquat Jatoi and Arbab Ghulam Rahim.

However, the turning point came when the Sheerazi brothers of Thatta also threatened to quit the party. “We are being victimised by the PPP but the PML-N leadership has abandoned us as it does not care. This is the time to say goodbye to the party,” one of the Sheerazi brothers conveyed this message to Sharif in the first week of February.

Premier Sharif promptly responded to the message and called the Sheerazi brothers to Islamabad for a detailed meeting in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif. It was here that Premier Sharif decided to visit Thatta and announce a development package for the dirt-poor region.

PML-N, military not on same page over militancy: Imran
Subsequently, Sharif not only visited Thatta and announced many projects but also surprised many within one week by attending an event organised in connection with the Holi festival in Karachi where he announced a Rs500 million for the Hindu community.

When asked if the money would actually be provided, PML-N’s Minority Wing Secretary General Khehal Das said Sharif had already formed a committee to oversee this project and identity other neglected areas in various districts where development work would be started. “At least six hospitals funded by the government will be established in various districts, including Thatta, Badin, Tharparkar, Jacobabad and Mirpurkhas,” he said.
Political observers see these activities as part of preparations for the upcoming elections. “The prime minister is now trying to make inroads into the areas traditionally considered the turf of either MQM or PPP in Karachi and other districts of Sindh. You will soon see more activities,” a senior leader said.

Sources in the PML-N say Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair has been tasked to approach the estranged PML-N leaders in Sindh before the 2018 general elections. “Now, the Governor House will be the epicentre of the PML-N’s political activities,” one leader said.

Governor Zubair has started meeting PPP’s rivals for possible alliances and has activated the PML-N’s social media wing to counter the opposition’s allegations and to defend the government’s policies.

However, some political analysts do not take these efforts seriously given the past record of the PML-N. “Premier Sharif and his team have been making and breaking promises. I don’t see the party winning more seats in Sindh,” said senior journalist Ayoub Shaikh. “Mumtaz Bhutto and Murtaza Jatoi had merged their parties with the PML-N, but now they regret their decision,” he said.

According to some experts, there is a possibility to fill the political gap in the province as people have no alternate for the PPP in Sindh. However, they believe Premier Sharif’s efforts are little late to give Sindh’s ruling party a tough time in the next general election. “I think he has little time to prove something before the next elections,” Shaikh added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19th, 2017.

The Feb 16 suicide attack on the shrine of Shahbaz Qalandar has sent shockwaves across the country, especially in Sindh which is considered as the last bastion of religious and sectarian harmony in Pakistan.
The shrine is revered by millions of devotees. Its characteristic drumbeat and dhamaal is an icon of spiritual ecstasy.

Sindh, the land of Sufis, has endured traumatic incidents of terrorism during recent years, yet Sindhi society is responding to this challenge with towering spirit and unflinching resolve — political leadership, civil society, local media and common people will not be cowed by this wave of terrorism.

More than 80 people died in the evening on February 16, yet the following day began with the roar of dhamal when mourners broke all barriers and thronged the shrine to demonstrate their defiance to terrorism. After a few days, the shrine was visited by a group of civil society activists that performed dhamal to fight fear.

A hairline crack is already conspicuous in Sindh despite being largely liberal, harmonious and secular. Sufi saints of Sindh are revered by people beyond identities that symbolises the Sindhi culture of inclusiveness, tolerance, diversity and harmony. Perhaps, that is the main reason behind targeting of shrines by obscurantist elements. Bloodshed at the Qalandar’s shrine is a continuity of the streak of blood smeared at the shrines of Shah Noorani, Abdullah Shah Ghazi, Data Gunj Bakhsh, Bari Imam and Rehman Baba.

The fact that the terrorist involved in the recent incident was brought from the other side of the border indicates sheer incompetence of the security web. He must have breached several tiers of security, and several facilitators, before detonating himself.

Such failure of intelligence and security merits serious introspection.

Lahore also witnessed a similar carnage only a few days ago, which was followed by a series of terrorist attacks in Balochistan and KP. These incidents should have been considered as a forewarning by the Sindh government.
Sehwan was among the predictable targets, yet the provincial government took no security precautions to avert any mishap. A place routinely frequented by flocks of thousands was left at the mercy of five policepersons, two dysfunctional walkthrough gates and a bunch of malfunctioning cameras.

After an illusive hiatus, terrorism has returned with its usual horror. Lack of political will is an undeniable reality that revitalises terrorist groups.

Local health facility is grossly understaffed supported by only one ambulance and inadequate supplies. A place like Sehwan should not be equated with normal taluka headquarters to determine the status of health, security and emergency services. Rather than its administrative status, the number of visitors routinely swarming the town and the level of alert should have been used as a benchmark to provide emergency response facilities.

The provincial government underestimated the threat level and failed to act proactively. Two day after the blast was too late for the chief minister of Sindh to order a security audit of worship places.

We know that in recent years militancy has crept into Sindh. The intelligence agencies informed the provincial government only a few months ago about 93 madrassas having solid links with proscribed outfits. Only two months ago, provincial home ministry reported that 62 banned groups were active in the province. The Sindh government had been wrangling with the Federal Interior Ministry over its slouchy response on a 46-page report sent by the provincial government.

The Sindh government’s own inaction was equally confounding, as it possesses constitutional and legal powers to take action against such potentially subversive bodies. The provincial government also failed to implement hitherto announced actions to forestall the terrorists’ onslaught.

In October 2016, the chief minister ordered a crackdown against 93 seminaries for having links with terrorists groups, and on unregistered immigrants living in Karachi. In August 2016, the Sindh cabinet approved a draft of the bill to register all madrassas in Sindh. In the meeting of the provincial Apex Committee, IG police informed that out of 9,590 seminaries reported in the province, 3,087 were unregistered. In February 2016, the provincial government decided to regulate the Friday sermon. According to newspaper reports, the Sindh police had started analysis and audit to trace the funding of seminaries in the province.

Regrettably, all these lofty ideas have yet to see the light of day.

Cowardice on part of the government of Sindh is also evident from the fact that it hastily scuttled an operation launched in November 2016 to lay hands on suspects taking shelter in 93 seminaries under question. The provincial government also backtracked on unanimously adopted landmark legislation against forced conversions to placate religious parties.

The provincial government belatedly decided to launch a crackdown on the Sindh-Balochistan border district one week after the carnage. These areas are infested by extremist groups and the provincial government knew it long before. It needs a comprehensive strategy and a long term plan rather than a reactionary crackdown which will end up in random police witch-hunting mostly targeting innocent people to extract money. Such perfunctory roars are commonly witnessed after every massacre, but each time the government cringes on the promised actions and capitulates before the pressure of religious groups. With the passage of time, the government actions fade away.
The federal government’s slumber on the National Action Plan (NAP) and the absence of a credible action in Punjab has also been a root cause of incessant terrorist acts. It is widely believed that certain elements in the Punjab-rooted ruling party have been pandering to proscribed militant outfits. An uncanny state of denial persists among the PML-N stalwarts.

Two days after a suicide assault that killed 73 people in a recreational park in Lahore in March 2016, Rana Sanaullah challenged that everyone can visit any region of Punjab and show him a single safe haven of militants. Repeated repudiation of action against militants’ sanctuaries in Punjab is commonly construed as an implicit complicity of the ruling establishment of the province.

In January 2017, the federal interior minister flabbergasted the Senate by justifying his meeting with a delegation that included a banned outfit. In February 2016, the minister had also said that madrassas are like a bulwark against terrorism. In the first week of February 2017, Rana Sanaullah successfully exhorted a PML-N legislator to withdraw her resolution seeking sanitisation of syllabus of seminaries by expunging hate speech. A newspaper report on February 20, 2017 revealed that some powerful government functionaries were opposing effective action against sectarian outfits in Punjab for political reasons.

While security establishment liberally uses its muscle to operate in other provinces, its reluctance to launch a decisive purge in Punjab triggers many questions. The Punjab dominated establishment’s laxity on eradicating militants’ safe havens is now spewing its perils in all parts of the country. After failure in containing terrorism, the security establishment found a reason to launch a fresh operation in the country.

After an illusive hiatus, terrorism has returned with its usual horror. Lack of political will is an undeniable reality that revitalises terrorist groups. There is no dearth of verbal gallantry but words often lack congruent actions of the government. Security establishment can use arsenal to halt terrorists’ advance but its more formidable political dimensions need a complex, multidimensional and compressive response that falls under the ambit of political government.

Unless the political leadership stands steadfast with its own towering claims, terrorism cannot be eradicated.

Pakistan seems on track in 2017 for another year of just getting by. The country seems likely as in the recent past to avoid fully confronting its most challenging problems yet managing to do enough to avoid their becoming seriously worse.
Measures to curb domestic violence undertaken by Pakistan’s military and civilian government can be expected to fall short of making the hard choices needed to eliminate ensconced extremist groups.

The military’s campaign in the FATA and paramilitary actions in Karachi and elsewhere in conjunction with the country’s National Action Plan (NAP) are given credit for lowering the number of terrorist attacks nationwide. Even so, the intelligence coordination envisioned by NAP has not been achieved and the high incidence of deadly high-profile attacks in 2016 may well continue in 2017.

Also lacking is the political will among Pakistan’s leaders to target those violent jihadi groups like Lashkar-e Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, which along with the Afghan Taliban continue to be treated as strategic assets in Pakistan’s security calculus involving Kashmir and Afghanistan.

Indications are that Pakistan’s policymakers will do little in 2017 to address the structural weaknesses in a sluggish economy. Declining direct private investment and weakening balance of payments are unlikely to be reversed this year, and the country’s heavy debt burden will continue to grow.

But Pakistan is not expected to face economic crisis or pay a price politically for inaction. Low oil and gas prices and strengthened currency reserves have taken pressure off the government to confront such difficult issues as tax reform and inequality.

Public discontent, so visible in recent years over shortages in electricity, has been lessened by the country’s increasing megawatt capacity. Above all, the popular euphoria over the agreement with China that promises more than $50 billion to construct an economic corridor uplifting the country’s transit and energy infrastructure has created the popular impression that Pakistan will be eventually relieved of all its economic ills.

Politically, most predictions foresee a year of greater political stability. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s overseas financial holding, as revealed by the Panama Papers, will continue to plague him for some months as will efforts of opposition parties to weaken and delegitimize his leadership. Yet Sharif will probably continue to outmaneuver his political enemies and be buttressed by popular approval of his government’s development projects.

Imran Khan’s movement shows signs of running out of steam, and its longtime rival, the People’s Party, has not regained its footing as a national party.

Sharif’s Muslim League stands a good chance of being returned to power in the event early national elections are called in 2017.

A modus vivendi seems to be largely in place between Pakistan’s civilian leaders and its military. Despite the generals’ disdain for Sharif and much of the political class, the military appears content with a status quo in which its domain of foreign and defense policy remains secure and it can avoid the responsibilities that come with assuming the powers of government.

In this often delicately balanced relationship, the Sharif government has acquired a newfound confidence. Its successful management of a new army chief’s selection in November has probably gained the Sharif regime a better hearing from the military and greater assurance that the ruling party will be allowed to serve out its term in office.

The government’s hand has also been strengthened as it has assumed the lead role in negotiating the direction of Chinese economic investment in Pakistan.

The year 2017 will not mark progress in expanding human and civil rights or legislation curbing corruption. More problematic still is the future of a blasphemy law.

However, closure should finally be achieved in long-overdue integration politically and administratively of Pakistan’s tribal areas with the rest of the country. In all probability, the seven tribal agencies of FATA will be consolidated within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Less certain is whether the Pakistani Taliban, which found refuge from the army’s Zarb-e Azb campaign across the border in Afghanistan, will begin to seep back into North Waziristan.

For the time being at least, barbed rhetorical exchanges and periodic border clashes are likely to mark relations between Pakistan and India. Although both nuclear-capable powers seek to avoid deeper conflict, another major terrorist attack inside India could, however, end the restraint heretofore shown by the Modi government.

Pakistan’s suspicions of Indian activities in Afghanistan may increase further in 2017 should Taliban military gains force the Kabul government to lean heavily on India for meeting its security needs.

The optimism expressed in Pakistan that a new U.S. administration may be more understanding of the country’s policies will probably fade quickly. Under a Trump administration, the long-lasting U.S. alliance with Pakistan can be expected to become more transparently transactional and carry more sticks than carrots.

Marvin Weinbaum is a scholar in residence and director of the Pakistan Studies Center at the Middle East Institute think tank in Washington.

ISLAMABAD, Jan 13: Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has expressed intent to return to Pakistan after requesting an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday to direct concerned authorities to provide foolproof security for his appearance in court in the judges’ detention case.

Accepting Musharraf’s application, ATC-II judge Sohail Ikram ordered the Inspector General of Police and the interior ministry secretary to make security arrangements for the former president to ensure his presence in court on the next hearing set for February 9.

On December 8, 2016, the ATC had directed police to initiate proclamation proceedings against Musharraf in the judges’ detention case over his continuous non-appearance before the court. Non-bailable arrest warrants have already been issued for Musharraf in the case and failure in making an appearance might lead to him being declared a proclaimed offender.

The details of Musharraf’s possible return surfaced when his counsel, Akhtar Shah, submitted an application seeking security for his appearance before the ATC. The application also sought exemption from personal appearance till security arrangements are made.

In the application, Shah said that without prejudice to other remedies and relief available to the petitioner under the law, he intends to appear before the court if the authorities provide adequate security.

Expressing concerns over the current security situation in the country, Shah stated that serious security threats have increased. Referring to a terrorist attack at the district court of Islamabad in March 2014 and another terrorist attack in August 2016 in Quetta, he stated “security conditions in the courts and otherwise have not yet improved.”

Shah said that under the prevailing circumstances and due to security and medical reasons, “it is neither safe nor advisable for General (retd) Pervez Musharraf to appear in person” in court. He added that Musharraf is under constant watch and he has been “advised to not travel till his health improves.”

In March 2016, Musharraf’s name was removed from Exit Control List after almost three years of being banned from international travel. He is facing a number of cases, including Abdul Rasheed Ghazi murder case, Benazir Bhutto murder case and a high treason case.

On December 8, the court had granted 30-days to the former president to surrender when his counsel had informed the court that his client was ready to appear before court.

The Special Public Prosecutor Aamir Nadeem Tabish had previously informed the court that the Ministry of Interior had submitted in 2013 that security would be provided to Musharraf if he was ready to appear before the court. However, he added that Musharraf submits a new application at almost every hearing and he has not been appearing before the court for one reason or another.

Being a fugitive of law, Tabish had maintained that Musharraf could neither seek any relief nor any lawyer could represent him unless the accused surrenders before the court. Subsequently, the court had ruled that the counsel cannot seek relief for Gen Musharraf unless the latter put up presence before the court.

The judges’ detention case was registered by the Secretariat Police Station on Aug 11, 2009, seeking legal proceedings against the former military ruler for confining 60 judges of the superior courts for over five months at their homes and restraining them from administering justice. The judges, including former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, were detained after proclamation of a state of emergency in the country.

KARACHI, Jan 1: An interned provincial lawmaker now belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan has not only confessed to his involvement in the May 12, 2007 mayhem but also implicated party chief Dr Farooq Sattar in one of the most violent episodes of the country’s history, it emerged on Saturday.

Kamran Farooq, a member of the Sindh Assembly from Karachi, was arrested by the paramilitary Rangers on Dec 16 and was booked in two cases for allegedly carrying grenades and unlicensed weapons. He was one of the absconders in several cases pertaining to the May 12 violence.

He had recorded his confessional statement before a judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the criminal procedure code on Dec 20.

According to his statement, a copy of which is available with Dawn, suspect Farooq stated that he joined the MQM in 2000 and worked as the party’s “unit and sector in charge”. He added that he was given a party ticket to contest the 2013 general elections on the recommendation of the then chief of the Karachi Tanzeemi Committee, Hammad Siddiqui.

About his involvement in the May 12 events, he told the magistrate that a meeting was held on May 10, 2007 at the party’s Nine Zero headquarters in the presence of Dr Farooq Sattar, Mr Siddiqui and other leaders. He said that the “party leadership” had asked him and other “sector in charges” to ensure that lawyers could not reach Karachi airport to welcome the then deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on May 12, 2007.
He testified that he along with his armed accomplices blocked many thoroughfares on May 12 and resorted to firing leaving many wounded.

In April 2008, according to the statement, another meeting was held at the party’s headquarters in which he was told that Karachi Bar Association secretary Naeem Qureshi was planning to stage protests against the party as he was a complainant in one of the May 12 cases. He was asked to teach a ‘lesson’ to Mr Qureshi and he sent some workers to torch a building — Tahir Plaza — which housed the office of the KBA leader.
Tahir Plaza was set on fire on April 9, 2008 in which a lawyer and his five clients died.

He also told the magistrate about his involvement in targeted killing, extortion, providing arms licences to alleged hitmen during the tenure of Aftab Shaikh, the then adviser to the Sindh chief minister on home affairs, purchasing weapons, china-cutting and other offences.

Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar, MPAs Mohammad Adnan, Kamran Farooq and others were booked in cases related to rioting and attempted murder during the May 12, 2007 mayhem, in which around 50 people were killed and over 100 wounded.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the MQM-Pakistan rejected the confessional statement of MPA Kamran Farooq who was in Rangers custody and said that such statements were part of the party’s media trial. The spokesman also slammed a plot to implicate Dr Sattar in false cases.

Another MPA gets interim bail in Baldia fire case

The administrative judge of the antiterrorism courts in Karachi on Saturday granted interim pre-arrest bail to MQM lawmaker Rauf Siddiqui in the Baldia factory fire case.
Applicant’s lawyer Shaukat Hayat submitted that a recently arrested suspect, Abdul Rahman, in his confessional statement named the applicant for allegedly lodging a case against the factory owners.

The counsel said that the applicant was neither nominated in the FIR nor named in the charge-sheets or any report of the joint investigation teams. The FIR against the factory owners was lodged by the SHO concerned on behalf of the state but the applicant was being framed in the present case.

However, since the detained suspect named the MPA in his confessional statement on the basis of hearsay, the applicant was ready to join the investigation and sought pre-arrest bail, the counsel added.

After a preliminary hearing, the judge in charge of the ATC-II granted him pre-arrest bail against a surety bond of Rs100,000 till Jan 12.

It may be recalled that Abdul Rehman alias Bhola, a key suspect in the factory fire case, confessed before a judicial magistrate on Dec 22 that he along with Zubair alias Charya and other accomplices set the factory on fire on the instruction of Hammad Siddiqui since the factory owners had refused to pay extortion.

He said that after the incident Rauf Siddiqui, then provincial minister for industries, allegedly got a case registered against the factory owners. According to the suspect, he came to know later that both Rauf Siddiqui and Hammad Siddiqui received Rs40 to Rs50 million from the owners in order to weaken the case against them.

KARACHI, Dec 24: Like devotees walking to a pilgrimage, a large number of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) workers marched towards the old terminal of the Karachi airport from Star Gate to welcome their co-chairperson, Asif Ali Zardari, on Friday.

It appeared like a festival. People from all walks of life – from students and housewives to parliamentarians and corporate bosses – everyone who gathered, sported a smile alike, making victory signs to the cameras trying to focus on them.

“Bibi [slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto] ka shohar, Bilawal ka baap aa raha hai. Khushi to bohat hai [The husband of Benazir Bhutto and the father of Bilawal is coming. It is immense happiness],” Kulsoom Baji, a jubilant worker of the party from its stronghold, Lyari, said, tailing her sentence with “Allah… “ as she clasped her hands together in a thanksgiving manner.

Slogans such as ‘Sub pay Bhari, Shairon ka Shikari, Phir agli Baari [Heavy on all, the hunter of lions, another turn for him]’ were raised with zeal. Nonetheless, the slogan of ‘Jiye Bhutto [Long Live Bhutto]’ maintained the ambience as workers religiously respond to it.

As the half of the nearly one-kilometre-long and 50-foot-wide Star Gate Road was allocated as Jalsa Gah, it was full to the brim with people at the peak time when Zardari spoke from behind a bullet-proof glass shield atop the same truck his slain wife used when she returned to the country.

Security was tightened around the premises since a day earlier. Public was allowed entry and exit from a single point. PPP leaders, including Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, used the other road passing through the PIA engineering department building.

While a large number of people had gathered at the event, most of them appeared less interested in listening to the speech of their leader and were more engrossed in taking selfies. Nonetheless, some transmitted the speech and activities at the gathering live on social media through their smartphones.

Besides the workers, street vendors selling samosas, coconut pieces, paapar and other eatables made the most of the situation to boost their sales. They strolled about through the road, attracting customers with their unique calling.

As Zardari concluded his speech, the public walked back to the exit points all at once, resulting in a traffic mess on the road and the connecting Sharae Faisal. Traffic personnel were seen trying to handle the situation. However, most of the people seemed to be in a hurry as they had to catch a flight about to take off at the nearby Jinnah Terminal.

Traffic mess
Residents of Karachi faced immense difficulty in reaching the airport as the most important artery of the city got choked.

However, the Karachi traffic police had issued a diversion plan two days before Zardari’s arrival. During the procession, when thousands of PPP supporters had thronged the old terminal, Star Gate and Drigh Road got completely blocked due to parking of cars on the roads. People heading towards and leaving the airport also remained stuck at the Jinnah International Airport until the crowd dispersed.

No journalist was murdered in Pakistan “in retaliation for their work” in 2016, a first since 2001, a recent study reported.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent organisation working to promote press freedom worldwide, in its special report launched on Monday said that it “did not identify anyone singled out for murder in Pakistan because of journalist work” — for the first time in 15 years.

The organisation classifies murder as “the targeted killing of a journalist, whether premeditated or spontaneous, in direct relation to the journalist’s work”.

At least 33 journalists have been targeted and killed “in retaliation for their work” since 1992, CPJ further said in its press statement.

However, many Pakistani journalists have resorted to self-censorship or have abandoned the profession altogether to avoid “grave risks”, CPJ added.

A report released by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) in November said, “Media houses and media persons are not only being targeted but threatened, pressurised, intimidated and harassed by the state and non-state elements.”
“Threats and violence have forced many journalists to move from these danger zones and to leave the profession or to resort to self-censorship, particularly in conflict areas,” it added.

Aside from murder and crossfire/combat, CPJ also records deaths of journalists who were killed while on a “dangerous assignment such as covering political unrest”.

According to CPJ, at least three journalists died while covering such assignments in 2016, two of whom were Pakistani. In August, DawnNews cameraman Mehmood Khan and Aaj TV cameraman Shehzad Ahmed were killed in a bomb blast at the Quetta Civil Hospital.

The slain crew members were in the hospital, covering a large group of lawyers mourning the murder of the president of the Balochistan Bar Association.

Read more: Remembering my fallen colleague Mehmood Khan, on his birthday

Terrorist groups have repeatedly launched secondary attacks targeting mourners or people rushing to the scene of a first attack, CPJ maintained.

“Such secondary attacks put journalists, who often cover the funerals and the aftermath of bombings, at special risk.”

CPJ said in the press release that its staff members independently investigate and verify the circumstances surrounding the death of a journalist.

“CPJ considers a case work-related only when its staff is reasonably certain that a journalist was killed in direct reprisal for his or her work; in combat-related crossfire; or while carrying out a dangerous assignment,” the statement added.