Jibran and three of his friends were heading home from a dinner party in Landi Kotal, northwestern Pakistan, when their car was ambushed. Two armed men dragged the journalist out of the car, told his three friends to get out, explained to them that they were not targets, and fired 19 shots at him, the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) reported.
Jibran reportedly previously faced numerous threats due to his fearless reporting.
Pakistani legal expert Osama Malik told OCCRP that journalists in the country are facing intimidation, harassment, and excessive criminal and civil prosecutions by both non-state actors as well as state institutions.
“However, targeted killings of journalists remain the ultimate means of silencing journalists who do not toe the line, while simultaneously striking fear among their fellow members of the press,” he said.
A global press freedom group urged Pakistan to swiftly investigate the fatal attack on Jibran and hold those responsible to account.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), expressed deep concern over the ongoing violence against journalists in Pakistan. Citing other media sources, the CPJ described the brutal murder of Khalil Jibran, who worked for the Pashto-language Khyber TV.
“Pakistan authorities must urgently bring those responsible for the killing of journalist Khalil Jibran to justice and take immediate steps to end the wave of violence against reporters in the country,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi.
She emphasized that the only way to reassure Pakistani journalists of their safety is for authorities to “stop the cycle of impunity that allows these attacks to continue unabated.”
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) also strongly condemned the killing of Jibran.
“The death of seven journalists in the first six months of 2024 must serve as a wake-up call to Pakistani authorities to implement and enforce protections for the media,” the IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said in a statement.
Despite Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province condemning Jibran’s murder and ordering the immediate arrest of those responsible, Pakistani law enforcement has failed to make any arrests so far.
The slain journalist was laid to rest in his native village of Sultan Khel, amid protests by several journalists’ associations condemning the killings of their colleagues and demanding swift investigations into their murders.
“We don’t want bodies; we want suspects and accused arrested,” said Tribal Union of Journalists (TUJ) president Qazi Fazal Ullah, as quoted by the PPF.
Pakistan ranks 152nd out of 180 countries on this year’s Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index.
RSF, an international non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the right to freedom of information, emphasizes that since its founding in 1947, Pakistan has navigated between civil society’s push for greater press freedom and a “political reality in which the political-military elite retains broad control over the media.”
