Pakistan: Journalist killed by unidentified assailants in Punjab province

Muzaffargarh [Pakistan], May 17 : A journalist named Mehar Ashfaq Siyal was shot by unidentified assailants in the Muzaffargarh area of Pakistan's Punjab Province and succumbed to his injuries at a hospital on Wednesday.
Siyal, who worked in the Daily Khabrain, was shot several times while travelling in the area, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reported.
In its report, the IFJ quoted Siyal's brother, Muhammad Ishaq, stating that Siyal was attacked when both of them were travelling towards Muzaffargarh city. Describing the incident, he said that the assailants on a motorcycle approached the journalist, stopped his motorcycle, and fired several shots into the journalist's stomach.
Muhammad Ishaq also claimed that the attackers also shot several rounds in the air before fleeing. According to the report, Siyal was taken to the DHQ Hospital in South Muzaffargarh.
In a video shared on social media, a visibly unwell and unresponsive Siyal can be seen with wounds to his stomach at the hospital, shortly before he dies, according to an International Federation of Journalists report.
According to the same report, the incident that occurred with Siyal is the second incident of targeted killing of journalists in May and the fourth in the year 2024. Previously, Muhammad Siddique Mengal was killed on May 3 after an unidentified individual placed and detonated an explosive device in his vehicle.
Journalist Sagheer Ahmed Laar was killed in Punjab on March 14 after unidentified men shot into a pharmacy, while the body of Pakpattan journalist Tahira Nosheen Rana was discovered in the province's north on March 11.
The President GM Jamali and Secretary General Rana Muhammad Azeem of the Pakistan chapter of the IFJ stated that "The Provincial Government of Punjab and the Inspector General of Police Punjab should immediately arrest the killers and give compensation to the family of the killed journalist."
Additionally, IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "Journalists and media workers in Pakistan are under constant threat, and the tragic killing of Mehar Ashfaq Siyal must be subject to a thorough and transparent investigation. The Pakistani government must fulfil its duty in safeguarding journalists, honour its constitutional and international commitments to press freedom, and ensure that those responsible do not escape with impunity."
Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court's (IHC) Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani has summoned a report from the defence secretary on the alleged role of state intelligence agencies in the abduction of Kashmiri poet and journalist Ahmed Farhad Shah, Dawn reported on Thursday.
Shah was allegedly abducted from his home on Wednesday. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan had called on the authorities for his immediate release.
A petition was filed by Shah's wife in the IHC the same day, requesting that he be found and produced before the court and to identify, investigate and prosecute those responsible for his disappearance.
Justice Kayani had conducted the first hearing on the matter a day ago and ordered Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jameel Zafar to retrieve Shah at any cost, warning that he would otherwise summon the defence secretary.
Shah's wife was represented in court today by Advocates Imaan Zainab Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha, while SSP Zafar, Assistant Attorney General Usman Rasool Ghuman and other officials were also present, Dawn reported.
During the hearing, Justice Kayani asked the SSP whether he had ever received a "positive response" from institutions in investigations related to missing persons cases. Justice Kayani further remarked that an investigation was not completed in any of the missing persons cases registered so far in the year.
"Shamefully, the whole nation knows who is doing what, the whole of Pakistan knows, including me, but we have closed our eyes," he remarked.
"What a great system, the missing person can't even come back and say anything. When the missing person turns up, he and his family are told to keep quiet," he added.
Justice Kayani opined that there should be legislation against enforced disappearances and that those involved in the practice "should be hanged.