JournalismPakistan.com | Published November 26, 2012
Join our WhatsApp channel
ISLAMABAD—Television anchor Hamid Mir escaped an assassination bid on Monday when police defused a bomb planted under his car in Islamabad, police and his channel said.
Mir, who hosts the Capital Talk evening show on Geo Television and writes a column for the biggest-selling Jang newspaper was criticized by the Taliban last month in the wake of the shooting of teenage activist Malala Yousafzai.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the device was found stuck under the front passenger seat of his car, police said.
"There was half a kilo of explosives fitted with a detonator," city police chief Bani Amin told Geo, saying that officers had defused the bomb and were gathering evidence.
Mir was on his way to his office and the bomb was planted when he stopped at a market, said Geo's Islamabad bureau chief Rana Jawad.
"It's a message to me as well as Geo and the journalist community in Pakistan," Mir told the television channel. "They want to stop us from speaking the truth but I want to tell them that we will not be deterred."
Interior Minister Rehman Malik offered a cash reward of Rs50 million ($500,000) for anyone with information about who was responsible for the powerful bomb.
"Had it exploded it would have blown the car into pieces," Malik told reporters, offering Mir extra protection.
Mir said the interior ministry had told him about threats to his life and already provided a police guard at his home, but he did not name any group he thought might be behind the device.
"Let us wait for the inquiry report, only then we can say something," he said.
Intelligence officials said last month that an intercepted Taliban message suggested suicide bombers had been assigned to attack journalists, with Geo at the top of the list of targets because of their coverage of the Malala attack.
Taliban hit-men shot Malala on her school bus in Swat Valley because she had campaigned for girls' rights to education. The 15-year-old survived.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Pakistan is the third deadliest country for reporters in 2012, behind Syria and Somalia. - AFP
November 28, 2024: Senior journalist Matiullah Jan has been abducted in Islamabad while investigating PTI protest deaths. Rights lawyers have filed a habeas corpus petition as charges of drug possession and terrorism spark outrage.
May 26, 2022: PTI supporters attack Jang/Geo offices in Islamabad & other cities amid D-Chowk protests—DSNG vans damaged, stones hurled amid anti-media slogans. Political-media tensions escalate.
May 16, 2022: Journalist Zahid Abbas Malik disappears in Lahore amid suspected agency involvement. PFUJ, press clubs demand action as nationwide protests loom over Pakistan's press freedom crisis.
April 30, 2022: DawnNews anchor Adil Shahzeb faces death threats & harassment, allegedly from PTI leaders. Journalists rally behind him as #JournalismIsNotACrime trends. Details on the escalating media safety crisis.
April 17, 2022: PTI supporters harass journalists, including women reporters, at Imran Khan's Karachi rally. Samaa TV's Zam Zam Saeed shares footage of abuse—cameraman injured, shirts torn. Media outcry grows.
March 15, 2022: Haripur Press Club President Zakir Tanoli attacked by masked assailants—struck with knives and pistol butts after chili powder assault. Journalists demand immediate action.
February 16, 2022: FIA arrests journalist Mohsin Jamil Baig after Islamabad raid over alleged cybercrime violations. The incident followed Murad Saeed's complaint under PECA 2016. Details on the confrontation and charges.
February 15, 2022: ARY News host Iqrar ul Hassan was allegedly tortured by security officials in Karachi after exposing an IB inspector's corruption. Hospitalized in critical condition—details on the attack and media freedom concerns.
April 11, 2025 Sindhi journalist AD Shar was brutally murdered in Khairpur, Sindh. His body was found dumped on Handiyari Link Road. PFUJ has declared a three-day mourning period and demanded justice.
April 10, 2025 The Azad Jammu and Kashmir government has filed a case against The Daily Jammu & Kashmir and its staff for alleged fake news, drawing condemnation from PFUJ and IFJ, who demand immediate withdrawal of the FIR and an end to media repression in Pakistan.
April 08, 2025 Journalist Arzoo Kazmi alleges that Pakistan's state agencies, including the FIA, have blocked her CNIC, passport, and bank account while threatening her. She calls it a direct attack on journalism.
April 07, 2025 The Islamabad High Court has directed IG Islamabad to produce journalist Ahmad Noorani’s missing brothers, as the Ministry of Defence denies custody. SIM activity was traced in Bahawalpur, and investigations into their suspected abduction continue.
April 07, 2025 Journalist and Raftar founder Farhan Mallick has been granted bail by a Karachi court in a case concerning anti-state content aired on his YouTube channel. He still faces separate charges related to an alleged illegal call center and data theft.