Pak 'most watched country' on NSA 2013 surveillance list

Pakistan is reportedly the 'most watched country' on the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) 2013 global surveillance list, with nearly 13.5 billion pieces of email, phone and fax communications being intercepted on a regular basis.

The disclosure made by the NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed that the US was intensely spying on Pakistanis' online communication systems, putting the country's journalists under major threat, the Express Tribune reports.

The report stated that although the Pakistani journalists are among the worst affected by illegal snooping, they still lack the knowledge to deal with the problem in future.

Pakistan has been ranked 8th on Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) 2013 impunity index, which spotlights countries where the killers of slain journalists go unpunished.

Meanwhile, Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Index 2013 has ranked Pakistan at 159th out of 179 countries reviewed.