Shaikh,
35, a senior cameraman for Samaa TV, was in a bomb blast that occurred 10
minutes after an initial explosion near a billiards hall in Quetta, capital of
Baluchistan province, according to Samaa TV senior producer Azam Gondal and
news reports.
Shaikh’s
colleague, Saif ur Rehman, a senior reporter for Samaa TV, was also severely
injured in the blast and died a few hours later in a hospital, according to Zahid
Hussain, Samaa TV director of news.
The
twin explosions killed dozens, including police, emergency workers, and
journalists who rushed to the scene of the first explosion, according to news
reports. The billiards hall is in a predominantly Shia area of Quetta. The explosions
were part of a series of bomb attacks reported across Pakistan that day, news
reports said.
The
Associated Press reported that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a sectarian militant group,
claimed responsibility for the explosions. Bakar Saddiq, a spokesman for the
group, said a suicide bomber carried out the first attack, while the second was
a car bomb that had been detonated remotely, the AP said.
Shaikh
had worked for Samaa TV for five years. He is survived by his wife and two
young daughters.