ISLAMABAD — Police on Monday found and defused a bomb planted under the car of a prominent Pakistani TV news anchor threatened by the Taliban for his coverage of a schoolgirl shot by the militants, police said.
The bomb was made up of a pound of explosives stuffed in a tin can, said Bani Amin, the police chief in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, where the attempt occurred. It was placed in a bag and attached to the bottom of Hamid Mir’s car, said Amin.
One of Mir’s neighborsnoticed the bomb under the car after the news anchor returned from a local market, and the police were notified, said Rana Jawad, a senior official at Geo TV.
No group has claimed responsibility.
The Pakistani Taliban threatened Mir and other journalists last month over their coverage of an assassination attempt against Malala Yousufzai, a 15-year-old schoolgirl activist who was shot in the head by the militants in the northwest Swat Valley.
The Taliban targeted Malala for criticizing the militantgroup and promoting secular girls’ education, which is opposed by the Islamist extremists. She is recovering in Britain.
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik offered $500,000 for information about those responsible for the attempted attack against Mir.
The news anchor said on TV after the incident that it would not deter him from speaking the truth.
Mir said he wasn’t prepared to blame the Taliban for the attempted bombing, because he had received threats from others as well.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 11/27/2012