Five media professionals were injured when assailants hurled explosive devices at the TV vanc of three private channels in Islamabad. It is believed that Dawn News was the intended target.
This statement was originally published on pakistanpressfoundation.org on 2 December 2014.
Unidentified motorcycle riders hurled low powered explosive devices, commonly known as crackers, at digital satellite news gathering (DSNG) vans of the private TV channels Dawn News, Dunya News and Abb Tak News in Islamabad. The incident, which occurred on Sunday, November 30, 2014, resulted in injuries to five media professionals.
The attack took place after a political rally organized by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), when two men on a motorcycle hurled crackers at the parked television vans.
DSNG engineer Ziaul Haq and cameraman Mohsin Ali of Dawn News, Nadir Hussain and Amir Ishfaq of Duniya News and Suleman Mubarik of Abb Takk News were injured and received treatment by medical
staff on the spot. The DSNG vans were partially damaged in the attack.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Police registered a case against unnamed attackers and the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Islamabad Asmatullah Junego said the target was the DSNG of Dawn News.
The President of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) Rana M Azeem and Secretary General Amin Yousuf strongly condemned the attack and demanded that that the culprits be captured and put behind the bars. “We condemn the incident and consider this a terrorism to threat media to stop them showing truth. Such incidents cannot stop media men to perform their duties,” Rana Azeem said.
