A local journalist was shot dead by unidentified persons on Saturday evening in the Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkwa, police confirmed.

The incident occurred in the Batani Khel area, within the jurisdiction of Karak Police Station. The victim was identified as Waseem Alam, the joint editor of local newspaper, Sada-e-lawaghir.

According to the FIR, registered on behalf of the victim's mother, Alam was returning home on his motorcycle when he was targeted near the Batani Khel Government School. He was subsequently rushed to the hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

An official of Karak Police Station told Dawn.com that the investigation was under way, adding that that one of the suspects was the victim's own father. "His father was not present at the hospital nor did he attend the funeral," said the official, adding that the father had been living with relatives and not with his own family for some time. The journalist's mother has, however, not named anyone as a suspect in the FIR.

"We have not found any clue so far that suggests that the slain journalist was killed for his journalistic work," the official added.

Meanwhile, KP Chief Minister Mehmood khan condemned that journalist's killing and directed the police to arrest the perpetrators at the earliest.

Pakistan is considered one of the most dangerous places for journalists, with 70 having been killed in the country in the last two decades, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

At least 10 journalists were murdered and several others threatened, kidnapped, tortured and arrested on trumped-up charges while discharging their professional responsibilities last year alone, according to Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors’ (CPNE) Media Freedom Report 2020.