Musa Khankhel

Incident Description: Body recovered; shot dead

On February 18, 2009, a journalist from Geo TV and the daily English-language newspaper The News, Musa Khankhel, was murdered in the Swat Valley, the first violation of a truce called at the time between the government and local militant groups. Khankhel was found dead with a dozen gunshot wounds to his head and body in a militant controlled area near Matta after he separated from his reporting team.

The motive was not clear at the time although Khankhel had been covering a peace march led by Muslim cleric Sufi Muhammad, the father in law of a local Taliban leader, Maulana Fazalullah. A local Taliban commander, Mehmood Khan, had told Dawn that his group had no role in the murder. He said that the Taliban considered Khankhel to be a professional journalist.

“He said that elements behind the murder would be identified soon and tried in Taliban courts in accordance with Islamic laws. It was a handiwork of elements who didn’t want peace in the region,” the report stated. Khankel’s family told PPF that it wasn’t the first that the journalist had encountered problems with the security forces and others in Swat.

Earlier that day, Khankhel and his brother, Essa, also a journalist, were not permitted to cover a government press conference.

Khankhel's brother, Essa Khankhel, said that since his brother's murder there was no progress in the case, adding that police have not identified the murderers. He said the case is not in court.