Shujaat Bukhari, editor of an English language daily Rising Kashmir, had just entered his vehicle outside his office in the city's press enclave when assailants fired several shots from close range.
“He (Bukhari) is no more. One of his two police bodyguards also died in the attack,” a top police officer told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another police guard and the driver of the vehicle were critically wounded in the attack.
Fellow journalists were on the scene soon afterwards. Bukhari was slumped over in the back seat, one of the police bodyguards had a gruesome wound to the head.
Witnesses said Bukhari died on the spot while the assailants fled immediately after the attack. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack comes a day before a unilateral halt in military operations as Muslim holy month of Ramazan comes to an end.
Groups fighting for the independence of Kashmir or its merger with Pakistan have rejected the brief religious “ceasefire”.2 weeks ago the Editor of Rising Kashmir, @bukharishujaathe was at a media summit in Lisbon. Now he is dead. @WorldEditors Forum President @dcallaway condemns his murder today and urges the government of India to bring his killers to book
Here’s a list of journalists killed
in Kashmir:
August 13, 2008 - Javed Ahmed Mir, 35, was shot dead while covering a demonstration near Bagh-e-Mehtab. According to the BBC, apart from being a cameraman, he was also a textile worker to help support his wife and three children.
May 11, 2008 - Ashok Sodhi, a photojournalist and then chief cameraman of Daily Excelsior, was killed in Samba district of Jammu. Sodhi was caught in a crossfire.
April 20, 2004 - Asiya Jeelani was killed in a landmine blast in Kupwara. Jeelani was a freelance journalist who contributed to local newspapers, and a human rights activist who worked with a human rights group, Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS).
May 9, 2004 - Senior reporter of region’s information department Abdul Majid Bhat was killed in a blast in Doda town, in Jammu.
2003 - Parvaz Muhammad Sultan, editor of a local news agency, was killed by unidentified gunmen. Sultan was the editor of an independent news-wire service, News and Feature Alliance (NAFA), based in Srinagar.
August 10, 2000 - A grenade attack at Residency Road in Srinagar brought a hive of journalists to cover the spot. Moments later a car parked in a lane exploded in which a Hindustan Times photojournalist, Pradeep Bhatia, was killed.
April 8, 1997 - Tariq Ahmad, a private television producer, was killed.
March 16, 1997 - The same year a freelance journalist Saidan Shafi was shot dead along with his bodyguard in Srinagar.
January 1, 1997 - An anchor for the state-owned Doordarshan television station in Srinagar, Altaf Ahmed Faktoo, was shot dead.
April 10, 1996 - Ghulam Rasool Sheikh, editor of the Urdu-language daily Rehnuma-e-Kashmir and the English-language weekly Saffron Times, was found dead floating in Kashmir’s Jhelum River.
September 10, 1995 - Mushtaq Ali, an Agence France-Presse and Asian News International photographer, opened a package at an office in Srinagar’s Press Enclave. The parcel exploded, severing Ali’s left hand, disfiguring his face and severely injuring his right hand and abdomen. He died three days later.
August 29, 1994 - Murder of freelance journalist Ghulam Mohammed Lone had a chilling effect on stringers working in outlying areas of the Kashmir Valley. He was killed by a group of masked gunmen who also fatally shot his seven-year-old son in their home in Kangan, Kashmir.
October 3, 1993 - Slaying of Radio Kashmir news reader Mohammad Shafi Bhat sparked a wave of resignations by his colleagues.
October 16, 1992 - Syed Ghulam Nabi, Joint Director Information, was kidnapped and held captive for four days. On October 20, his dead body found with torture marks.
September 29, 1992 - A renowned calligrapher, Ali Mohammad Mahajan, working with Urdu newspapers Hamadard and the Daily Aftab, was killed by paramilitary forces along with his son, Aijaz.
April, 23, 1991 - Murder of Al-Safa editor-in-chief Mohammad Shaban Wakil served to mute local journalists’ criticism. Some gun-wielding men entered the office of Vakil and fired at him indiscriminately.
March 1 1990 - PN Handoo, Assistant Director of Information, was shot dead inside his office at Balgarden, Srinagar.
February 19, 1990 - Lassa Kaul, director of the government-owned Doordarshan television station, was shot dead in Bemina area of Srinagar.
