KARACHI: Senior journalist and a prominent anchor of GeoNews, Hamid Mir, was critically wounded in an armed attack on his car near Karachi airport minutes after he landed here from Islamabad on Saturday.

Doctors at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) performed surgery for two-and-a-half hours to save the life of 48-year-old Mir, who was hit by ‘at least’ three bullets – two in the abdomen – by ‘lone attacker’ when his car slowed down to take a turn to emerge on Sharea Faisal near the Wireless Gate bus stop.

The news channel quoted a source in the hospital as saying late in the night that Hamid Mir was still in a serious condition, but out of danger.

“It was between 5:30 and 6pm when Mr Mir was attacked under the bridge passing over Sharea Faisal near airport,” said SSP East Pir Mohammad Shah. “The attacker standing close to the road was waiting for the car to come closer and fired around nine shots from a 9mm pistol targeting Mr Mir who was sitting on the back seat of the car. His private guard was on front seat with the driver.”

Quoting witnesses, he said the armed man, who was clad in Shalwar Kameez, then ran away with one of his accomplices on a motorbike. The driver of the wounded journalist then accelerated the car to reach AKUH within 15 minutes. Mr Mir was rushed to the operation theatre, he added.

According to GeoNews, two motorcyclists and a car were involved in the attack.

The channel came up with a strong reaction against the deadly attack on the host of its flagship talk show, ‘Capital Talk,’ blaming directly the ISI chief for the assault.

“Hamid Mir was well aware that who could be behind this attack,” said the Geo News’ headline while quoting the wounded journalist’s brother – Amir Mir – who is also associated with the same media group.

“He had already made aware his organisation and family that the ISI chief has made a plot to assassinate him. A few elements in the ISI are against Hamid Mir due to his viewpoint about Pervez Musharraf and the Balochistan crisis. Hamid Mir has also recorded a video message on the same lines defining who could be behind this attack. He has been under threat since General Shuja Pasha was the ISI chief.”

Meanwhile, the incident attracted strong condemnation from media fraternity and other segments of the society. The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) called it a ‘cowardly attempt’ on the life of senior journalist.

“The APNS noted with concern that the media houses and media persons have been continuous target of attacks by state and non-state elements who intend to curb the freedom of expression. The federal as well as provincial governments have failed to provide security and protection to the fourth pillar of the state,” said the APNS statement.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) demanded an independent judicial inquiry into the incident. It described the allegations by Mr Mir as very serious and source of concern.

“It’s very serious (allegations),” said Zohra Yusuf of the HRCP. “There should be an independent and judicial inquiry commission but that should not end like the one established to probe into killing of journalist Saleem Shahzad. This time the attempt went unsuccessful so there is a need to inquire about the details and people behind the attack before they plan another one.”