Islamabad: A Pakistani journalist was shot dead on Friday in an armed attack on his car in Karachi's North Nazimabad area.

According to the police, the private TV channel's senior producer Athar Mateen was assassinated at the main thoroughfare in North Nazimabad while he was on his way back home after dropping his children to school, Geo News reported.

The police said that Mateen, who was driving a car, tried to foil a robbery bid when he saw armed motorcyclists robbing another citizen, by shoving his car into their motorcycle.

At this, one of the motorcyclists, who fell on the ground, opened fire at Mateen's car, Geo News reported.

The assailant fired three shots, but Mateen sustained only one bullet injury which killed him on the spot, the police said.

Meanwhile, the assailants crossed the road on foot and fled while snatching another motorcycle, the Pakistani newspaper said.

Recently, The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) released a report to highlight how press freedom deteriorated in 2021 as compared to the previous two years in Pakistan.

In the report titled "Pakistan Media Freedom Report - 2021", CPNE said in 2021 alone, five journalists were killed in the line of duty, including Karachi-based social media activist and community journalist Nazim Jokhio, who was abducted and killed mercilessly.

The report also said that Pakistan is one of the countries, where violence against journalists is increasing and not even a single murderer has been brought to justice.