The Pakistan Taliban today claimed the responsibility for the killing of a journalist in unruly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, saying he was spying for the government.
Haroor Khan, who was associated with Mashriq TV and Daily Akhbar-e-Khyber, was shot dead last evening by unidentified persons. He was buried today in his ancestral graveyard in Swabi.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Muhammad Khurasani, in a Whatsapp message to local media, said that TTP's special squad, STF, killed the journalist for spying.
He claimed that the slain journalist was working for the secret agency, sometimes in the shape of running a medical store and some time as journalist.
"We have time and again warned the journalists to avoid siding with government. Anyone one cooperating with the Army or the government will be our target like Haroon Khan," the TTP said in the message.
Meanwhile, the slain journalist's brother, Manzoor Ali logded an FIR against his step-brother Muhammad Ali and his two sons -- Jawad Khan and Ammad Khan, stating that land dispute was the reason behind the murder of his journalist brother.
Also, local journalists and members of various political and social organisations today took out a rally and protested outside the DC office and also blocked the road for all kind of traffic.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)