KARACHI: Geo News senior anchorperson Hamid Mir was injured in a targeted-shooting incident in Karachi on Saturday, Geo News reported.
According to reports, unknown armed men ambushed Mir’s vehicle as soon as it came out from the Airport onto the city's main artery Shara-e-Faisal near the Natha Khan bridge. He received bullet injuries and was shifted to a private hospital.
Hamid Mir had told his family, friends, colleagues’ army and government officials that if he was attacked the ISI and its chief Lt. General Zaheerul Islam would be responsible.
Speaking to Geo News Hamid Mir’s brother, Amir Mir said the senior anchor had visited him and informed him of a plan by ISI chief Lt. General Zaheerul Islam to assassinate him.
Geo News reporter Afzal Nadeem Dogar said Hamid Mir was traveling from Karachi airport to the Geo News office when he was attacked.
Gunmen in a car and riding two motorcycles opened fire on Hamid Mir’s car a few kilometers away from the Airport police station.
Karachi police chief, Shahid Hayat said Hamid Mir has been shot thrice, one bullet has pierced his intestine while the other two have wounded his leg and pelvic area. Speaking to Geo News, Hayat said Mr. Mir was out of danger.
Geo News Islamabad bureau chief, Rana Jawad said Hamid Mir spoke to him after being attacked and said that the gunmen were following him and continued to fire on the car.
Geo News correspondent Fahim Siddiqui reports that gunmen continued to fire on Hamid Mir’s car from the airport till Karsaz which is a distance of approximately 6 kilometers.
Speaking to Geo News the driver of the car said a single attacker had opened fire and targeted Hamid Mir.
Hamid Mir has been shifted to the operation theater and a brief from the doctors treating him is awaited.
Previous Attack
In November 2012, explosives were found under the vehicle of Mir in Islamabad when he had gone for some work with his driver and parked his car for a little.
The bomb disposal squad was immediately called in to remove the bag after which it was revealed that the bag contained half kilograms of explosive material that was diffused by the squad.
Mir had vowed to raise his voice for truth and justice.
Profile
Hamid Mir was born in Lahore in July 1966. He studied and completed his secondary education at University Laboratory School New Campus and Government Central Model School, Lahore.
Mr. Mir belongs to a literary and journalistic family. His grandfather Mir Abdul Aziz was an Urdu, Persian, and Punjabi language poet from Sialkot. Mir's father, professor Waris Mir, was also a columnist.
Hamid Mir joined the Daily Jang (Lahore) in 1987 and worked there as sub-editor, reporter, feature writer and edition in charge.
He has also received the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Pakistan's second highest civil award.
In 1996, Hamid Mir became the editor of the Daily Pakistan in Islamabad, making him the youngest editor of any national Urdu newspaper in the history of Pakistani journalism.
He currently hosts the political talk show ‘CapitalTalk’ on Geo TV and also writes columns for Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, and English newspapers. He was twice banned from Pakistani television by the Pervez Musharraf government in 2007, and by the Zardari administration in June 2008.
Hamid Mir traveled to eastern Afghanistan, where he investigated the escape of Osama bin Laden from Tora Bora mountains in December 2001. Mir visited the caves of bin Ladin, during the American bombing.
In 2002, Mir joined GEO TV as the Northern Region editor. Since November 2002, he has hosted GEO TV's Capital Talk, a political talk show in which top Pakistani politicians from the government and opposition have appeared. He is also writing a biography of Osama bin Laden, as well as a weekly column in Daily Jang.
He has interviewed Condoleeza Rice, Tony Blair and L K Advani among many notable personalities. Mir was arrested by Hezbullah in Beirut during the Israel-Lebanon war in July 2006 while trying to cover the scenes of Israeli jets bombing on Beirut, but was later set free.
