Hundreds of people gathered in Pakistan's Khyber tribal district on June 19 for the funeral of journalist Khalil Afridi, who was gunned down a day earlier in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack but Afridi's family said he had faced harassment and death threats. Mourners called on authorities to do more to protect journalists, with at least three deadly attacks in Pakistan over the past year according to domestic and international media watchdogs. The government insists media in the country can operate freely and that a law on the protection of journalists was passed in 2021.
