FEBRUARY 7, 2005
Posted: March 14, 2005
Amir Nowab, or Mir Nawab, Associated Press Television News, Frontier Post
Allah Noor, Khyber TV
KILLED-CONFIRMED
Anwar Shakir, Agence France-Presse
Zardad Khan, Al-Jazeera
ATTACKED
Gunmen in Pakistan’s tribal area of South Waziristan fatally shot Nowab, also known as Nawab, a freelance cameraman for Associated Press Television News and a reporter for the Frontier Post newspaper, and Noor, who was working for Peshawar-based Khyber TV.
The journalists were on their way back from the town of Sararogha, where they were covering the surrender of suspected tribal militant Baitullah Mehsud.
A car overtook the journalists’ bus at around 7:30 p.m. near the town of Wana, and assailants opened fire with AK-47 assault rifles, according to The Associated Press, which quoted Mahmood Shah, chief of security for Pakistan’s tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Shakir, a stringer for Agence France-Presse, was wounded in the back during the attack and is in stable condition, according to news reports. A fourth reporter, Khan, who was working for Al-Jazeera, was not seriously injured.
The Pakistani military has been cracking down on suspected al-Qaeda fighters in South Waziristan, a semiautonomous tribal region.