( CNN ) -- Gunmen wounded a prominent Pakistani TV news anchor on Saturday in an attack his brother linked to the nation 's government , despite its firm denial . Hamid Mir was shot three times by gunmen in a car and on two motorcycles near Karachi 's airport , his network Geo News -- a CNN affiliate -- reported . Shahid Hayat , the police chief for Karachi , said bullets struck Mir 's intestines , leg and pelvic area . Dr. Aamir Hussain told Geo News that Mir then underwent a successful operation at a private hospital . Amir Mir -- the targeted news anchor 's brother and a journalist himself -- said Hamid Mir believed ISI , Pakistan 's powerful intelligence agency , and specifically its leader Lt. Gen. Zaheerul Islam , had plans to assassinate him . Yet the Pakistani military public relations agency ISPR said that `` raising allegations against ISI or the head of ISI without any basis is highly regrettable and misleading . '' In the same statement , a spokesman for that agency condemned the attack and `` prayed for ( Mir 's ) well-being and quick recovery . '' The United States condemned the shooting , calling it the latest in a series of worrisome attacks on journalists in Pakistan . `` ... Attacks like these should be a wake-up call to all who value democracy in Pakistan , '' U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said . `` We wish Hamid Mir a speedy recovery and urge the Government of Pakistan to bring all those responsible for these attacks on the media to justice . '' A former newspaper reporter and editor , Hamid Mir writes columns and hosts a political talk show on Geo News . His guests have included members of Pakistan 's ruling government and the opposition . Mir is also writing a book on Osama bin Laden , the late al Qaeda leader whose escape from the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan he extensively reported on . Two Pakistani governments -- once in 2007 and again in 2008 -- banned him from appearing on Pakistani television . Pointing to a late March attack against a Pakistani journalist , an official with the Committee to Protect Journalists called the targeting of Mir `` an indicator that the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has not been able to reverse the country 's appalling record of violence against journalists , despite pledges to do so . '' `` Police must act swiftly and decisively in this and all cases that have been building up for years in Pakistan , '' said Bob Dietz , the journalism advocacy group 's Asia program coordinator . `` And the country 's media must use their capabilities to pursue their own investigations , as well as pressure the government to take action . ''
NEW : The United States says the attack ` ` will be a wake - up call '' in Pakistan . Men in a car , on being fired at Hamid Mir , reports his brother , Geo News . He was hit three times , then had a successful recovery , the CNN affiliate says . Mir felt Pakistan 's spy agency may try to assassinate him , his brother tells Geo News .