Pakistani Taliban to target media organisations: Report

Mehsud says media personnel, organisations criticising them for attacking Malala will be targeted, BBC Urdu reports.

Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan leader Hakimullah Mehsud has issued special directives to operatives for taking action against international and national media organizations in different cities of Pakistan, reports BBC Urdu.

An official of the interior ministry, on the condition of anonymity told BBC that agencies recorded a telephonic conversation between Mehsud and a Taliban operative Nadeem Abbas alias Intiqami where the former was giving directives to the latter on taking action against media organizations.

Mehsud, according to the interior ministry, was directing Abbas to target media organizations and personnel  in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi and other cities who were criticizing the Taliban for attacking Malala Yousufzai.

The Taliban have been targeted with severe criticism and condemnation for attacking the 14-year-old child activist by Pakistan and other countries.

After listening to the conversation the government has directed all media organizations, especially international media organizations to tighten security around their offices and has directed concerned authorities to do the same for these organizations.

The Taliban have threatened media organizations through emails and telephonic conversations as well.

The government has directed authorities to station heavy contingents of police in areas where there are important media organizations and if need be, they can request the government for stationing Frontier Constabulary (FC) too.