5th Afghan journalist killed in 2 months
Kabul, Jan 2 (efe-epa).- Gunmen have shot dead an Afghan journalist in the western province of Ghor, officials said on Saturday, the fifth media person murdered in a series of targeted killings in Afghanistan in the past two months.
Bismillah Adil Aimaq, the head of the Sada-e-Ghor (Voice of Ghor) radio, was killed on Friday afternoon near the provincial capital of Firozkoh, Ghor Governor Noor Mohammad Kohnaward told EFE.
Aimaq was traveling in his private car when he was shot dead by unknown gunmen on the highway, the governor said.
He was one of the senior journalists in the province, who worked for years for the freedom of speech.
No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
President Ashraf Ghani condemning the “terrorist attack.”
Ghani said the “terrorist groups, including the Taliban, can’t silence the vocal and legitimate voice of the freedom of speech and journalists by launching such attacks.”
“The government is committed to the freedom of speech and its further promotion,” he said in a statement.
The Afghan government late last month decided to double the number of police officers in Kabul after a wave of targeted attacks against politicians, activists, intellectuals, and journalists.
Most of such incidents are not claimed by any militant group but the government often accuses the Taliban of the majority of the killings.
The surge in targeted killings came as peace talks between the insurgents and the Afghan government are due to resume next week.
Taliban signed a peace deal with the United States in February last year.
In the agreement, the Taliban promised not to launch big attacks in urban areas.
The National Directorate of Security on Thursday announced that they have arrested two Taliban leaders, allegedly involved in the killing of Rahmatullah Nikzad, a senior Afghan journalist in southern Ghazni province.
These two Taliban members were released earlier this year from Afghan jails, along with 5,000 Taliban inmates, as part of the efforts to facilitate the intra-Afghan peace process. EFE-EPA
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