Ayub Khattak

Ayub Khan Khattak,

Personal Ayub Khattak lived in the village of Warana near Takht-e-Nasrati, in the Karak District. He is survived by his wife and the couple had two older sons, one of which was Shamsur Rehman, out of 10 children. He also has a brother Mukhtiar Khan. Ayub Khan Khattak was buried in his ancestral graveyard at Warana Mir Hassankhel village in Takht-e-Nusrati tehsil on Saturday October 12, 2013.

Career Khattak was a journalist for the Karak Times and the Daily Jang. He got his start in journalism in 2004 and had been a journalist for nine years at the time of his murder. He was no stranger to threats and often received threats as a result of his reports that exposed criminal elements in his region. According to Ayub Khattak's colleagues, he had recently published an article on a local gang of drug dealers and their sale of illegal drugs. The two men fatally shot him down right outside of his door. Khattak died instantly and the two men fled the scene. The assailants used a .30 bore pistol to kill Khattak. The weapon was a Kalashnikov. The judge, Syed Kamal Hussain Shah, acquitted Khoob Niaz due to lack of evidence. However, Aminullah was sentenced to life in prison and given a fine of Rs 5 million. Both Khattak's brother and his son were dissatisfied with the court's decision, and believe that both of the killers should have gotten the death sentence. Khattak's family said that they planned to appeal the acquittal of Khoob Niaz, and they had hoped for and now wanted a more harsh sentence for both of the brothers.

Impact Ayub Khattak wrote articles about the drug smuggling business and crime in his region to improve his province.

When Aminullah Niaz was finally convicted for Khattak's murder, that was a huge win for the journalism community, as many journalists' deaths are not something that gets much attention.

As the IFJ stated: the conviction for Khattak's murder is a step in the right direction, a step towards controlling the justice deserved for crimes against journalists in Pakistan. The IFJ accepts the conviction and supports the effort done by the Pakistan government and authorities to end the culture of violence and injustice.

Reactions The journalism community was outraged by the death of Ayub Khattak. The Karak Times community organized a protest rally for the death of their colleague. This protest was led by the senior journalist at the Karak Times, Shafiuddin and the Karak Union of Journalists. The protest took the form of a march, one that went from Peer Odeen Shah Masjid to the Saddam Chowk. The journalists that took part carried placards, chanted slogans, and demanded the arrest of Khattak's killers. These placards also had slogans written on them demanding protection for journalists. The protest ended up blocking traffic at the Karak-Bannu Road at Saddam Chowk, as they rallied there.

Members of civil society, local journalists, and workers of political parties in Ghalanai, also organized a protest. They were asking the government to look into Khattak's murder.

Yet another protest took place in Landi Kotal, this group of protesters was made up of the Khyber chapter of Tribal Union of Journalists, they were also demanding the arrest of Khattak's killers. This protest was led by Sajid Afridi, the president of the TUJ's Khyber chapter. These protesters also chanted slogans, ones that were against the KP government for failing to provide protection to media persons. They demanded an objective, unbiased look into the murder of Ayub Khattak, they also urged the government to compensate Khattak's family.