Homemade grenade thrown at Express News bureau chief’s home

Reporters Without Borders calls on the authorities to protect Jamshed Baghwan, Express News TV’s Peshawar bureau chief, after a home-made grenade was thrown at his front gate yesterday in the second attack on his home with an explosive device in less than three weeks. “We are relieved to learn that Baghwan and his family are safe after this latest attack but we are very disturbed to see how determined certain extremist groups are to silence their media critics, especially members of the Express Media group, which has been targeted repeatedly in recent months,” said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk. “What are the authorities waiting for? Why aren’t they already protecting this journalist, who has been under threat for several weeks? We urge them to adopt concrete protective measures. The government recently reaffirmed its concern about the safety of journalists but continues to show that it lacks the will to act.” The grenade that was thrown at his home yesterday inflicted damage on the main gate and adjoining wall but caused no injuries. Baghwan found an improvised explosive device outside his home on 19 March but the police were able to defuse it before it could go off. The Express Media group has been the target of a series of attacks by the Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) since August 2013, when a total of 22 shots were fired at Express News TV headquarters in Karachi. Individuals on motorcycles threw homemade bombs and opened fire on its headquarters again in December. Three Express News TV employees were shot dead in one of the TV station’s vehicles in Karachi in January. And finally, on 28 March, shots were fired at a car carrying Express News TV programme host Raza Rumi, killing his driver and injuring his bodyguard. Several of these attacks have been claimed by TTP, which has said it is waging a campaign against “bad publicity” by its media critics. Ranked 158th out of 180 countries in the latest Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, Pakistan is one of the world’s deadliest countries for journalists, with a total of seven killed in 2013.