Pakistan troops 'kill journalist'

A newspaper journalist has been shot dead in Pakistan's restive north-west by the security forces, police say.

Qari Mohammad Shoaib, a reporter with the Khabar Kar daily, was killed in Mingora town in the Swat valley, a police spokesman said.

The journalist did not stop his car despite warnings as a military convoy passed during a curfew, he said.

Eleven journalists have been killed in Pakistan since 2000, says the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

Mr Shoaib was killed late on Saturday night,

"The security forces personnel gave him several warnings, he was signalled to stop, then they shouted and also fired shots in the air, but he kept moving towards a military convoy and finally one of the bullets hit him," news agency AFP quoted police official Khaista Rehman as saying.

The shots were fired because suicide bombers have attacked security forces convoys in the past in a similar manner, Mr Rehman said.

"Had he stopped and identified himself, this mishap could have been prevented."

Mr Shoaib is survived by two wives, three daughters and one son, relatives said.

Some 40 journalists held a protest in Mingora on Sunday morning, demanding an investigation into the incident.