FC besieges 2 newspapers’ offices in Quetta

By Malik Siraj Akbar

QUETTA: After forcing an anti-government newspaper in Quetta to close down earlier this week, the Frontier Corps (FC) on Friday besieged the offices of two more newspapers.

The office of the FC claimed they wanted to “interrogate the newspapers’ staff for security reasons”. The offices of English newspaper Daily Balochistan Express and Urdu paper Daily Azadi, both published by Siddique Baloch, were placed under surveillance for several hours on Friday morning.

“FC personnel were deployed outside the offices for several hours. They detained three of our staffers as they were on their way to work,” Asif Baloch, the editor of Daily Azadi, told Daily Times.

He said the deployment of FC personnel clearly indicated that officials planned to harass journalists working for the two newspapers. “Our staff members were held by the FC for several hours and interrogated unnecessarily. We believe the forces that forced Asaap newspaper to shut down have now been told to shut us down,” Asif Baloch said.