Intimidation of the media has become a serious issue in Pakistan.
Journalists, however, are vowing not to give in to the threats. The country's rampant violence made Pakistan one of the deadliest environments in the world last year for reporters, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said.
This year seems not to be any different: three journalists (Ashiq Ali Mangi, Malik Arif and Azmat Ali Bangash) have been killed. Two of them died in April in Balochistan and Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa.
In 2009, 7 journalists were killed in Pakistan; four of the deaths them have been confirmed beyond any doubt as resulting from their work.
In the past 18 days, the "Taliban Media Centre" in North Waziristan has issued death threats to journalists.
One emailed threat, dated April 23, said: "This should be considered a last warning ... if the media don't stop working as an ally of the government and army, then the Taliban will treat them as they want to be treated".
"The journalistic community is taking these threats very seriously", Pervaiz Shaukat, president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), told Central Asia Online.
Journalists and the international community in Islamabad held unprecedented activities on this year's World Press Freedom Day, May 3, to show their concern. Reporters held local workshops and demonstrations, while the Islamabad-based EU delegation to Pakistan organised a discussion for reporters, activists and government officials.
"The press has (long) been under attack by different pressure groups in Pakistan", Mazhar Abbas, press freedom activist and former PFUJ general secretary, said. "The danger now is that we see armed pressure groups who want you to (parrot) their viewpoint".
The Taliban issues open threats while security agencies apply "invisible" pressure, Mazhar said. And journalists often lack the proper training to ensure their own safety, he said.
However, the attention devoted to intimidation of the media was "encouraging", he added.
Adnan Rehmat, head of the media watchdog group Intermedia, agreed. "The media are becoming better organised in protesting attacks on themselves", he said.
However, he lamented the failure to punish those who kill journalists. "Not a single person has been convicted of any of these ghastly murders (of reporters)", he said. "Threats to journalists seem to be snowballing ... seven were killed in the past 12 months".
Many reporters fear that "they are being left on their own to face the consequences", Shaukat said.