Bomb recovered under Pakistan journalist Hamid Mir's car

Senior Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir had a lucky escape in Islamabad when a bomb under his car failed to go off. Mir is the executive editor of Geo News, one of the top Pakistani news channels, based in Islamabad. Geo News reported that Hamid Mir had gone to a market in his car and after returning home, the driver spotted a suspicious bag under his car. The bomb disposal squad was immediately called in to remove the bag after which it was revealed that the bag contained half a kilogram of explosive material. [caption id=“attachment_535701” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational Image. Reuters[/caption] Mir had visited Islamabad’s F-7 area earlier today where it is suspected the explosives had been planted under his vehicle. The explosives reportedly did not detonate due to faulty wiring. This is not the first time that a journalist has been targeted in Pakistan. Just four days back, several Pakistani journalists were injured in a bombing at a Shia site in Karachi after they were caught in a blast just 30 minutes after an earlier explosion. The second bomb went off close to the first one, wounding reporters, police officers and bomb disposal teams who had arrived at the scene. The incident occurred as the International Press Institute (IPI) released figures showing that 48 journalists have been killed in the line of duty in Pakistan in the last 10 years. Of those, 35 were deliberately targeted and murdered because of their work, notes The Guardian. According to the IPI, Pakistani journalists are killed, unjustly detained, abducted, beaten and threatened by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, militants, tribal and feudal lords, as well as some political parties that claim to promote democracy and the rule of law. This year so far, five journalists have been killed.