Durrani, 55, news editor of the Urdu-language Daily
Pakistan, was killed in a suicide bomb attack during a political rally for
the Awami National Party in the northwestern provincial capital of Peshawar,
according to news reports. His death was confirmed to CPJ by a staff member at
the Lahore offices of the paper by phone. News reports also identified him as Tariq Aslam Durrani.
News accounts reported
that more than 20 others were killed in the attack, which occurred in the densely
populated neighborhood of Yakatoot. The explosion occurred just after the
arrival of Awami National Party leaders, The Associated Press reported. Senior
police official Shafqat Malik told AFP
that the attack was a suicide bombing.
Two other journalists were injured: Ehtesham Khan, a
correspondent for Express TV, and Azhar Ali Shah, a reporter for Daily
Pakistan, both of whom were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
The militant group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed
responsibility for the attack, which came less than two weeks before national
elections, according to local reports.
The group’s spokesman, Ihsanullah Ihsan, told local news media that the target
of the attack was Haroon Bilour, a lawyer running for a parliamentary seat that
had been held by his father, Bashir Bilour, who was assassinated last year by
the Taliban, the reports said. Haroon Bilour survived the attack.
Durrani was survived by his wife and four sons.