Geo News reporter, cameraman narrowly escape shooting in Kohat

KOHAT: A Geo News reporter and a cameraman narrowly escaped shooting by unidentified men on Rawalpindi Road in Kohar on Saturday. However, both of them were injured as a result of falling off their motorcycle during the firing.

As per details, Syed Yasir Shah, who is a senior journalist, and the cameraman accompanying him were on their way back from Attock after covering the Makhad Sharif Urs when two masked motorcyclists shot at them. 

Shah, while talking to this correspondent over a phone call, said that they were injured as a result of falling off their motorcycle due to firing. The assailants also tried to chase us after the attack but fled later, he added.

Both the injured were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital, Kohat. Fortunately, both of them remained safe from gunshots.

Shah is a senior correspondent of Geo News, working since 2007. He had been receiving threats for a long time.

This is the second time the Kohat correspondent has been attacked in this year. A group of unidentified assailants detonated explosives and shot at Shah's residence in Kohat on March 21.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) released its White Paper on Global Journalism in 2020, ranking Pakistan as the fifth worst country for journalists, with at least 138 journalists murdered since 1990 and 42 killed in the last four years.

As per Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Pakistan is one of the world’s deadliest countries for journalists, with three to four murders each year that are often linked to cases of corruption or illegal trafficking and which go completely unpunished.

The organisation last year ranked Pakistan 150 out of 180 countries on its press freedom list.