Geo News reporter Malik Mumtaz posthumously awarded Sitara-e-Shujaat

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Geo News reporter from North Waziristan, Malik Mumtaz, was on Tuesday posthumously awarded the Sitara-e-Shujaat — Star of Bravery — at the Pakistan Day awards ceremony held at the President House.

Malik Mumtaz was martyred in 2013 when his car was ambushed by unknown assailants.

Mumtaz's son, Sulaiman Khan, received the Sitara-e-Shujaat award from President Dr Arif Ali.

On February 27, 2013, the Geo News journalist was returning home to Miranshah from a nearby village when unknown assailants opened fire on his car, killing him on the spot near the Chashma bridge.

Read more: Geo News reporter Malik Mumtaz martyred in N. Waziristan

The senior journalist had been elected the Miranshah Press Club's president just before his untimely death. He is survived by his two sons and daughter.

Malik Mumtaz graduated from Gomal University in Dera Ismail Khan and remained associated with the Geo/Jang Group for almost two decades. Reporting from the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan, he was a well-respected journalist whose work was unbiased and accurate.

Among the notable politicians who had condemned the attack at the time were Prime Minister Imran Khan, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PML-N leader Pervaiz Rasheed, then-Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, and MQM-P chief Altaf Hussain.