President of Kalat Press Club gunned down

KALAT: Unidentified gunmen Friday shot dead a local journalist in the Kalat, officials said.

Mahmood Afridi, 38, was killed in Kalat district, 160 kilometres (100
miles) south of the provincial capital Quetta, local administration chief Akbar Harifal told AFP.

"Gunmen riding on a motorbike opened fire on Afridi, who was passing through the main bazaar of Kalat, and fled. Afridi died on the spot," Harifal said.

"We have launched an investigation to determine if the motive was rivalry or a targeted attack."

Provincial chief secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani confirmed the killing.

No one has claimed responsibility for the murder.

Baluchistan has been hit by sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Islamist militancy and a regional insurgency waged by separatists.

The attack comes after two recent bombings in Quetta, targeting the Hazara minority, which left more than 180 people dead and were claimed by an extremist group.

Afridi is the second journalist killed in Pakistan this week.

On Wednesday unidentified attackers shot dead senior local journalist Malik Mumtaz in Pakistan's lawless tribal region of North Waziristan near the Afghan border.

The tribal areas are a haven for Islamist militants, but the Pakistani Taliban condemned the murder of Mumtaz.

According to the press campaign group Reporters Without Borders, Pakistan was the third deadliest country for journalists last year, behind Syria and Somalia, with 10 killed in connection with their work. (AFP)