Shoot-at-sight orders | Journalists barred from hospitals
The authorities on Tuesday barred journalists from visiting all major hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The decision was apparently aimed at preventing the journalists from assessing the exact number of causalities in the operation against the Lal Masjid militants.
Most of the injured people were rushed to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Rawalpindi. Private television channels reported that the police and troops had been ordered to shoot at journalists trying to gain access to the injured persons. Journalists were also stopped from entering the Fauji Foundation Hospital in Rawalpindi. Journalists who tried to enter the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, the Federal Government Services Hospital and the Capital Hospital were told by the security personnel to stay away. Hospital spokesmen were reluctant to disclose the number of injured or killed in the operation. They said that they were not authorised to share such information. However, despite the restrictions some television channels showed the pictures of the injured. These images were taken shortly before the ban on journalists was imposed. Agencies add: Maj Gen Waheed Arshad told reporters that the government had not issued any directions to shoot at journalists trying to gain access to the injured people. He said that the facts would be made public when the operation ends. Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said that journalists had been stopped from entering the hospitals on the doctors’ request, who said they were facing problems in treating the injured in the presence of a large number of journalists.
Source: Daily Times
Date:7/11/2007
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