Akbar-e-Jehan
February 9, 2008, in Quetta, Pakistan

An unknown gunman killed Mujahid, a veteran columnist for the weekly, in a targeted attack outside his home in Quetta.

Mujahid, who was also a photographer, was struck in the head and chest as he left his house, according to the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and local news reports. A spokesman for the banned insurgent group, the Baluch Liberation Army, claimed responsibility for the murder in a phone call to the Quetta Press Club, saying Mujahid was "against" the Baluch cause, local news reports said.

Mujahid, an ethnic Punjabi, had received several telephone threats after writing about the killing of Baluch leader Balach Marri in November 2007, according to the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists. Akbar-e-Jehan, published by the Jang Media Group, is one of the largest weekly Urdu-language magazines in Pakistan.

Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan province in southwestern Pakistan, where ethnic Baluch militants were engaged in protracted combat with government forces for political autonomy and local resources.

Medium:Print
Job:Columnist / Commentator, Photographer
Beats Covered:Corruption, Politics, War
Gender:Male
Local or Foreign:Local
Freelance:No
Type of Death:Murder
Suspected Source of Fire:Political Group
Impunity:Yes
Taken Captive:No
Tortured:No
Threatened:Yes

 

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