Geneva, Aug 20 (IANS): The UN has urged Pakistan to "take immediate steps" to probe the recent spate of killings and disappearances of journalists in the country.

"In the past eight days alone, we have received reports on the killing of one journalist", Munir Shakir in Balochistan Aug 14.

"And the disappearance of another journalist, Rehmatullah Darpakhel, in North Waziristan" Aug 11, said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Friday.

"We call on all responsible parties to immediately stop such violations of human rights, and we urge the government to take immediate steps to independently investigate these cases," Daily Times Saturday quoted him as saying.

Violence against journalist in Pakistan came into focus after Saleem Shahzad, who worked as correspondent for AKI and Asia Times, was abducted and murdered.

Shahzad, 40, was kidnapped in Islamabad May 29 and his body, bearing marks of severe torture, was found in a canal in Pakistan's Punjab province two days later.

He is widely believed to have been seized by intelligence officials for alleging in an article that terrorists attacked the PNS Mehran naval base in Karachi May 22 after the navy refused to free sailors held for suspected militant links.