Journalist killed in suicide blasts in Kohat
Azmat Ali Bangash, 34, reporter working for Pakistan Television (PTV), Samaa TV and Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency, was killed, alongwith 41 other people when two suicide bombers blew themselves up amidst a crowd of displaced persons collecting relief supplies in Kohat district of province Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday, April 17, 2010.
According to press report the first suicide bomber blew himself up at 11.55am while only a few minutes later the second bomber also blew himself up as people rushed to help the dead and injured. Bangash was at the site for coverage of food distribution received fatal injuries and breathed his last at Kohat Development Authority (KDA) hospital. He left behind a wife and 3 children.
Mumtaz Bangash, President of Kohat Press Club told PPF that according to some eyewitness Bangash was hit in the second blast when he was covering the casualties of first blast.
District Police Officer Kohat, Dilawar Khan said that the 41 persons killed in the two blasts, included displaced persons from Orakazai Agency and also some local people of Kohat. He said the bombers walked into the crowd camouflaged as women.
The injured were rushed to the KDA and Liaquat Memorial Hospital (LMH). Ten seriously wounded victims were shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in Peshawar due to their precarious condition.
A militant organisation of Punjabi Taliban, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Alami, has claimed responsibility for the two consecutive suicide attacks .After the incident, a heavy contingent of police reached the spot and cordoned off the area for rescue work.
Rehan Khattak a reporter of APP told PPF that on April 12, Bangash had told some colleagues that he had been receiving death threats from militants following breaking the news of death of Taliban Chief Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone attack in Orakazai Agency. Khattak further told that Bangash belonged to Hangu district but due to death threats, Bangash also had left his native place and settled in Peshawar and Islamabad and continued reporting from there.
Managing Director APP, Muhammad Riaz has expressed his heartfelt grief over the demise of Bangash. A condolence meeting was also held at APP Peshawar Bureau, chaired by Bureau Chief Ayaz Muhammad.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira and Minister of State Syed Sumsam Ali Shah Bukhari have expressed their deep grief over the demise of reporter Bangash.
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has condemned the death of Bangash while performing his professional duties and urged the government to come to the rescue of journalists as situation is getting worse. It is getting more difficult for media persons to perform their duties without fear, it said.
Source: Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)
Date:4/18/2010
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