Journalists Killed in 2016 - Motive Confirmed: Mehmood Khan

Mehmood Khan
DawnNews
August 8, 2016, in Quetta, Pakistan

DawnNews cameraman Mehmood Khan died in a massive bomb blast in Quetta, Pakistan, that killed more than 70 people on August 8, 2016, according to press reports. Khan, 25, filming lawyers gathered at the Quetta Civil Hospital to mourn the murder of their colleague Bilal Kasi, President of the Baluchistan Bar Association, whose car was attacked by gunmen on motorcycles.

Khan was taken to another hospital in Quetta for treatment of his injuries after the blast, but died there shortly afterwards.

Responsibility for the apparent suicide attack and the shooting was claimed by the militant group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which had been added to the U. S. State Department's list of global terrorist groups the week before the attack. Militants in Pakistan have repeatedly staged secondary attacks to target mourners following a first attack, or people rushing to the scene. Such secondary attacks put journalists, who often cover the funerals and the aftermath of bombings, at special risk.

DawnNews Quetta bureau chief Syed Ali Shah, in a tribute to Khan, wrote that Khan had joined DawnNews seven years earlier as a security guard and worked his way up the ranks to become a cameraman. He was in the process of applying to Balochistan University to study for a communications degree. He left behind a wife and seven children. Khan, at age 15, had married the widowed wife of his brother, and adopted three of his children.