Armed men beat up Daily Qudrat employee in Quetta, newspapers burnt

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 30 October 2017 |  JP Staff Reporter

An employee of Daily Qudrat was beaten and newspapers were burnt in Quetta. This incident adds to growing concerns for media safety in Balochistan.

Summary

QUETTA – Unidentified armed men beat up an employee of Daily Qudrat and burnt the newspapers he was carrying in the wee hours of Monday.

According to reports, the incident occurred at Suraj Ganj Bazaar, where he was intercepted and thrashed.

The employee whose name could not be immediately known had picked up the copies of Daily Qudrat from the printing press.

The paper is published simultaneously in Quetta and Karachi.

In a similar incident on October 26, unidentified gunmen stopped and attacked a minivan carrying newspapers in the Awaran district and burnt the cargo.

The gunmen shot and burst all four tires of the vehicle before setting the newspaper bundles on fire.

The van was arriving from Karachi when it was intercepted in the Awaran area, south of Balochistan.

There have been serious threats from militant groups to all those associated with the media in the province.

The banned United Baloch Army said earlier this month the journalists were only presenting the government’s point of view and had warned of armed action against them after October 24.

Its spokesman Murid Baloch warned print journalists to stay away from newspaper offices and press clubs and the newspaper hawkers and transporters to stop distributing newspapers.

KEY POINTS:

• Armed men attacked a Daily Qudrat employee in Quetta.
• The employee was carrying newspapers from a press when intercepted.
• Past incidents include a minivan attacked in Awaran district.
• Media personnel face serious threats from militant groups.
• The United Baloch Army issued warnings against journalists.