Pakistani police say provincial politician killed journalist

MULTAN, Pakistan – Pakistani police say a local politician in the eastern Punjab province has shot and killed a journalist working for a local newspaper before fleeing the scene.

Police chief Mohammad Ashraf said on Thursday that journalist Zeeshan Ashraf Butt was killed on Tuesday in the town of Sambrial. He worked for the Nawa-i-Waqt newspaper.

Sambrial is 400 kilometres — about 240 miles — southeast of the city of Multan.

Ashraf says the police are looking for the assailant, politician Imran Cheema. His motives are unknown.

Reporters Without Borders condemned Butt’s killing and urged authorities to arrest his killer.

In a statement, the media watchdog also appealed on Pakistani authorities to protect journalists, saying they are “often the targets of physical violence, abduction or intimidation by the intelligence services and the military.”