WASH TV
May 28, 2012, in Quetta, Pakistan

Armed men shot Hajizai, a headmaster of a middle school who also worked at WASH TV, a private Baluchi-language TV channel, according to news reports. The journalist died at a local hospital, the reports said.

Hajizai was killed in the Basima area of Washik District, home of the Shamsi Air Field that was used by the United States as a base for surveillance and drone operations against militants in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Two days after Hajizai's death, the Baluch Liberation Front (BLF), a separatist national armed group, claimed responsibility for his killing and called him a government informant. The journalist's colleagues said they had been unaware of any threats made against him.

The Baluchistan Union of Journalists issued a statement in protest of the killing and appealed to the Supreme Court and the Baluchistan High Court to address the rising level of threats to journalists.

Medium:Television
Job:Broadcast Reporter
Beats Covered:Politics, War
Gender:Male
Local or Foreign:Local
Freelance:Yes
Type of Death:Murder
Suspected Source of Fire:Political Group
Impunity:Yes
Taken Captive:No
Tortured:No
Threatened:No

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