Two more journalists killed in Pakistan bombing

The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on the Pakistan media to review security and journalist safety training after two more journalists died and five were injured in a double bombing in Peshawar on Saturday night which killed 36 people.

The CPJ says a first small blast at the Khyber Super Market drew a crowd, including journalists covering the story. The second larger blast, apparently a suicide bomb, went off after the crowd had grown.

This follows closely on the May 10 bombing death of journalist Nasrullah Afridi, who died when his car blew up in an explosion at the same market. The two journalists killed were Asfandyar Khan, who worked with different media organisations and had recently joined Akhbar-e-Khyber, and Shafiullah Khan, a young graduate, who had recently joined The News International as a reporter-in-training.

"Pakistan was the deadliest country for journalists last year and now it looks like it may be again this year, with at least five killed so far," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia programme coordinator. "The government is unable to protect journalists from attacks. Therefore, media owners, managers, and journalists in the field must quickly unite and together work hard on establishing and ensuring their security."

• MediaGuardian yesterday ran an article about the killing of Saleem Shahzad, the Pakistani investigative reporter. It was headlined 'Journalism's deadliest beat' and said 16 journalists have died in Pakistan in the past 18 months.