Pakistan woman journalist targeted in eastern city of Lahore
Nov 24, 2021, 8:25 PM | Updated: Nov 25, 2021, 10:27 am
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — An assailant targeted a female Pakistani journalist in the eastern city of Lahore while she was driving with her daughter and sister late at night, the police said Thursday.
The attacker used an iron bar to smash the car’s front windshield in the Wednesday night attack and shouted threats before the women escaped unharmed, the police said.
It was unclear why Ambreen Fatima and her family were targeted. She works for Pakistan’s Urdu-language newspaper Nawa-i-Waqt and is the wife of Ahmad Noorani, an investigative journalist who was also attacked in 2017, in an assault in Islamabad.
Noorani is known for his critical writing about the Pakistani judiciary, bureaucracy and intelligence agencies.
Pakistan’s government insists it supports freedom of speech but journalists and press freedom advocates often accuse the country’s military and its agencies of harassing and attacking journalists — or not doing enough to stop such attacks.
The Pakistani journalists’ community condemned the attack on Fatima. Opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif demanded a probe into the incident and punishment for those behind the attack.
Police said they are investigating.
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