LAHORE – The National Counter Terrorism Authority (NCTA) has issued a notification on Thursday that warned noted journalists Matti Ullah Jan, Aizaz Syed, Waheed Muraad, Omer Cheema, and Hamid Mir of terrorist attack.
The notification said that Usama Khalid, Ameer of foreign terrorist organization Punjab, has reached Rawalpindi/Islamabad from Afghanistan and has been tasked to conduct target killing of the journalists.
According to research by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), since 2001, 71 journalists and media workers have lost their lives doing their duties. Of these, 47 have been deliberately targeted and murdered for practicing their profession, while others were killed while covering dangerous assignments.
The report pinpoints eight sources of threat to the journalists: militants, political networks, religious parties, ethnic groups, tribal and feudal lords and law enforcement agencies-basically all stakeholders in Pakistan’s politics. The threats include killing, unjustly detaining, abduction and torture.
