AHRC.Com: The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a journalist of a US based news agency is receiving death threats from Taliban Pakistan for writing stories on the working of some prominent religious seminaries (Madressas) who were imparting training students for suicide bombers or romanticizing the suicide attacks. The chief of the news agency-AP has asked the correspondent to leave the job as Taliban Pakistan has declared AP as an infidel organization. The bosses at USA have conveyed message to him that it would not be possible to relocate him to the US because of the policy shift in the aftermath of 9/11.

The journalist and his family have restricted their movements and are taking shelter in different places.

Mr. Ashraf Khan is a Karachi based correspondent of US based news agency- Associated Press (AP), Karachi office, Sindh province and working since five years. He was an investigative reporter and earned good reputation on his exclusive reporting particularly, on the activities of covert operations of the seminaries in the activities of Al Qaida and Taliban (both from Afghanistan and Pakistan). Because of AP news agency his stories were getting international popularity which infuriated the Taliban of Pakistan.

On 21 February, Ashraf Khan received a hand written letter, from the so called chief of the Taliban Karachi chapter, in Urdu language which threatened him that he is under watch and the letter is the first and the last warning. The translation of the letter is here;

”Ashraf Khan: Stop representing infidel media and enmity against Islam. Your every story is comprised anti-Islamic report. We have close watch on your movement. Take this letter as your first and the last warning
Abu Hamza Karachvi
27th Rabi ul Awal, 1433 H” Please find the copy of hand written threat in the link.

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