MIRANSHAH, Dec 5: Masked men on Monday kidnapped a local journalist from Mirali Bazaar in the North Waziristan Agency, officials and family sources said. Hayatullah Khan, a correspondent for an Islamabad newspaper and contributor to a German wire service, had left his home to report on a demonstration by college students near Mirali town.

Ihsanullah Khan, brother of the kidnapped journalist, told Dawn that a group of students had come to his house at about 9am and asked him to cover a demonstration to be held at Kajorai check-post.

The demonstration had been organized in protest against Wednesday night’s reported missile attack on a house in Asoray village, killing five people including a 17-year-old student.

Hayatullah is a nephew of Haji Mohammad Siddiq, the owner of the house.

Sources said Mr Hayatullah was on his way to Kajori check-post when five masked men armed with assault rifles bundled him in a car and sped away.

Family sources said that Hayatullah had been receiving threats and anonymous letters for a few months, warning him not to cover the present situation in the tribal area. They said he was neither involved in a tribal feud nor had any dispute with anybody in the area.

Two journalists have been killed and two others wounded in the South Waziristan Agency over the last few months. A number of newsmen have left the area due to prevailing insecurity. The authorities have not been able to make single arrest so far.

The Tribal Union of Journalists staged a demonstration in front of the Peshawar Press Club in protest against Hayatullah Khan’s abduction and demanded his safe recovery.