THE Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Wednesday for the killing of a reporter for the Voice of America and warned that others would be targets.

    A masked gunman shot reporter Mukarram Khan Aatif as he was praying Tuesday in a mosque in Shabqadar, a small town in the tribal area of northwest Pakistan, colleagues said.

    Aatif was struck by at least three bullets. The killer escaped on a motorbike driven by a second masked man.

    “All reporters of Voice of America are our targets and should resign; otherwise, we will kill them,” Taliban spokesman Mukurram Khurasani said.

    The Voice of America is a radio service financed by the U.S. Government.

    The Reporters Without Borders campaign group said Pakistan was the deadliest country for journalists in 2011.

    Last year, 10 journalists were killed there as a result of their work, the group said.

    Journalists are increasingly facing death threats in reporting the conflict in Pakistan’s war-torn tribal areas. For years, Aatif performed that frontline role, covering the lawless northwest for radio and TV.

    Colleagues said he had received threats from the militants, who accused him of projecting American views. Others are frequently intimidated and receive death threats from armed groups, as well as the security services.

    In a statement, Voice of America said that Aatif had been working for its Deewa Radio service since 2006.

    It said that the murdered reporter also worked for local TV stations.(SD-Agencies)