Journalist gunned down in Charsadda

Atif was a journalist who had relocated to Charsadda after having received threats.

PESHAWAR: An under threat Journalist, Mukarram Khan Atif was gunned down by unidentified men in Shabqadar, District of Charsadda, on Tuesday.

Atif, who hailed from Mohmand had relocated to Charsadda recently after he received threats from militants in the tribal belt.

Station House Officer (SHO) Janzada Khan, told The Express Tribune that Atif had been shot by unknown gunmen while he was praying in a mosque, which he had been constructing on his own expense. "He [Atif] was in the middle of his prayers when the men fired at him thrice, one of the bullets pierced his body, and injured the Imam (prayer leader) also" said Janzada.

Atif had moved to Shabqadar, settling on the border of Mohmand Agency, where he had moved along with his family, his close friends told The Express Tribune. He, however had never made these threats public.

After the attack, his body was shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in Peshawar. Doctors confirmed that Atif had received bullet injuries in his head, a spokesperson for the LRH said that "he was in a dead state at the hospital".

Nasruminallah, the Imam of the mosque had been injured in the attack, was treated at the hospital.

Atif had been working for a private TV channel from Mohmand Agency and was also a stringer for the radio Voice of America (VOA) Pashto service "Deewa Radio".