ISLAMABAD The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders Tuesday urged Pakistan to control violence after the recent killing of a journalist and an attack on a privately owned TV station.

If the climate of violence is not quickly brought under control, the government will not be able to say it is doing everything possible to ensure that Pakistani journalists can work in a free and safe environment, it said.

A gunman shot dead freelance journalist Amir Wakil near his home in Rawalpindi late Saturday, his brother told AFP. The killers motive was not immediately clear.

The man fired two shots when [Wakil] was entering his home after buying milk from a nearby shop, Kamal Azfar said.

We have no rivalry in Rawalpindi or in our village, he said, adding that police were trying to locate the killer.

Reporters Without Borders condemned the killing.

Although there is so far no evidence that it was linked to his work as a journalist, we call for the deployment of additional resources for the investigation and the prosecution of those responsible, it said.

Similarly, the authorities must consider new measures to protect privately owned media after the attack on Samaa TV in Quetta.

On Monday, stone throwers shattered windows in the Samaa TV building in the southwestern city of Quetta, where the sectarian killing of a local Shia politician and businessmen sparked protests Monday.

The channels Quetta bureau chief told AFP there were no casualties.

The attackers also opened fire with pistols but the staff had a miraculous escape as the shots hit the ceiling, said Zahur Baloch.