BOL News makes false claims about Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui

Karachi: A private Pakistan TV channel on Friday made false claims about Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui who was killed on Friday while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan.

Karachi-based BOL News channel, a controversial broadcaster behind the fake degree scandal, labelled Danish Siddiqui as an Indian spy in its bulletin.

The channel claimed that the Indian journalist was killed along with an Afghan commander.

BOL News implied that Siddiqui was on a mission in Afghanistan against Pakistan.

The channel’s reporting has angered Pakistani journalists who took to social media to condemned the broadcaster for making false claims about Siddiqui who lost his life while performing his duties.

Afghan special forces had been fighting to retake the main market area of Spin Boldak when Siddiqui and a senior Afghan officer were killed in what they described as Taliban crossfire, the official told Reuters.

Siddiqui had been embedded as a journalist since earlier this week with Afghan special forces based in the southern province of Kandahar and had been reporting on fighting between Afghan commandos and Taliban fighters.

“We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region,” Reuters President Michael Friedenberg and Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni said in a statement.

“Danish was an outstanding journalist, a devoted husband and father, and a much-loved colleague. Our thoughts are with his family at this terrible time.”