RAWALPINDI: Five media personnel, two of them from DawnNews, were injured and their digital satellite news gathering (DSNG) vans were damaged when two men on a motorcycle hurled crackers at them at the Faizabad interchange here on Sunday night.

SSP Islamabad Asmatullah Junego said the target was the DSNG of DawnNews.

No-one claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack took place when DSNG engineer Ziaul Haq and cameraman Mohsin Ali of DawnNews from Faisalabad office were going back after covering the PTI public meeting in Islamabad.

“We were standing along roadside with our DSNG parked beside vans of Dunya News and Abb Takk News when two men on a motorcycle came there and hurled a cracker at our vehicle,” Ziaul Haq said.

Cameraman, DSNG engineer of DawnNews among injured

An official of the bomb disposal squad said the crackers left an eight-inch wide and one inch deep crater at the site and damaged two TV vans. Tyres and windows of DawnNews DSNG were flattened by the cracker’s shrapnel.

Police identified others injured as Nadir Hussain and Amir Ishfaq of Duniya News and Suleman Mubarik of Abb Takk News.

The injured were treated by Rescue 1122 medical staff on the spot.

SSP Junego told Dawn that only an investigation could determine whether these were hand-grenades or crackers and how much explosives were used.

The Aabpara Police Station registered a case against unnamed attackers.

The attack was condemned by the journalist community, politicians and members of civil society. They termed it an act of cowardice and demanded arrest of the culprits.

Published in Dawn, December 1st , 2014