QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has announced that a judicial commission will be set up to investigate the killing of journalists in the province over the past four years.

He also announced payment of compensation to the families of the slain journalists. More than 30 journalists have been killed in Quetta, Khuzdar, Kalat, Hub, Turbat, Gwadar, Pasni and Panjgur since 2009.

The chief minister made the announcement in the Balochistan Assembly when journalists returned to the press gallery after staging a walkout in protest against a firing incident in Karachi in which three employees of a TV channel were killed.

Balochistan Union of Journalists chief Irfan Saeed urged the assembly to condemn the attack and put pressure on the Sindh government for early arrest of killers.

The chief minister condemned the incident and said that members of the commission would be appointed after consulting the assembly members.