A pregnant reporter has been badly beaten by unknown assailants in Uzbekistan after she interviewed opposition activists and received threats.
One of her fellow reporters at U.S.-funded Radio Liberty says unidentified men attacked Lobar Qaynarova in Gulistan, the capital of Syrdarya province, south of Tashkent.
He said she recently had interviewed local opposition activists, after which unknown people threatened her and warned her "not to mess with politics."
He said she was beaten in the stomach, her nose was broken, and her tape recorder was stolen. She has been hospitalized, but her condition is unknown.
News media are tightly controlled in Uzbekistan. The latest attack comes amid heightened pressure on media following a military crackdown in May in Andijan province that is feared to have killed hundreds of people.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.