Media under fire: Attack on TV channel’s office

The CPNE condemned the attack on the ARY office in Islamabad in the strongest terms

ISLAMABAD: Unidentified attackers hurled a hand grenade before firing at the offices of ARY News channel in the federal capital on Wednesday evening, which left a staffer injured. According to ARY News, CCTV footage showed two armed, masked men riding a motorcycle approached the offices in sector F-7/4 at around 5:15pm on Wednesday evening and threw a hand grenade and opened fire. According to ARY News, Da’ish’s Afghanistan chapter had claimed responsibility for the attack in pamphlets thrown by the attackers. The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) condemned the attack on the ARY office in Islamabad in the strongest terms.  In a statement issued after the attack, CPNE President Mujibur Rehman Shami and Secretary General Dr Jabbar Khattak said the government must immediately address threats to the security of journalists and media houses.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2016.