KARACHI, June 30: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists has condemned what it terms a fresh wave of violence against journalists and says that Thursday’s attack on the Peshawar Press Club, detention of three reporters in Khyber Agency, threats given to journalists by the political administration as well as extremist groups pose serious threat to freedom of the press.

In a statement issued here on Friday, the union supported the demand of the Peshawar Press Club and the Khyber Union of Journalists for arrest of people involved in the attack.

The statement said that journalists Khalil Afridi, Sudhir Afridi and Abu Zar Afridi had been detained on Monday by the political administration of Khyber Agency for interviewing wanted cleric Mangal Afridi, head of Lashkar-i-Islami. They were kept under detention for about 24 hours and released after intervention by some elders.

It said that a reporter of a private TV channel, Asif Wadood, was threatened for leaking the NWFP budget. He was summoned to the Chief Minister Secretariat to reveal the source of the leak.

Earlier, two journalists, Qazi Nasrullah and Qazi Rauf, were threatened by Lashkar-i-Islami, for filing reports favouring government policies. They were told that their houses could be demolished and they could be fined Rs1 million if they did not stop filing pro-government reports.

The statement said that the PFUJ had also received a report that a journalist from a tribal area had taken shelter in Karachi, after receiving similar threats from another group.

It said that the situation was not different in Balochistan and a recent statement on the floor of the Balochistan Assembly by an opposition leader that newspaper offices would be burnt if they did not give coverage to them should be taken seriously in the view the situation in the province.

Journalists covering the army or paramilitary operation in Dera Bugti and in some other areas of Balochistan had often been summoned by security agencies and threatened, the statement added.

The Dawn unit of the Karachi Union of Journalists also condemned the attack on the Peshawar Press Club by activists of a political party and demanded that the group concerned must offer an unconditional apology and hand over the assailants to police.