Taliban kills Pakistani journalist working for VOA

Taliban militants on Tuesday killed a Pakistan journalist who was working for an American government funded broadcasting service, according to police, a militant spokesman and a colleague.

Mukarram Khan Atif was shot in the head while praying in a mosque close to the city of Peshawar, said police officer Jahan Zada Khan. According to his profile on LinkedIn, Atif was a reporter for Voice of America’s Pashtu language Deewa radio station and a Pakistani television station. Pashtu is the language spoken in much of northwest Pakistan. VOA reported the death on its website and said Atif provided stories for the service.

A spokesman for the Taliban called an Associated Press reporter to claim responsibility for the killing. Insanullah Ihsan of the Taliban said the militants had warned Atif a “number of times to stop anti-Taliban reporting, but he didn’t do so.