JALALABAD – Gunmen shot dead a female news anchor and her driver today, said her employer, the second murder of a journalist in Afghanistan in a month.
Malalai Maiwand was killed in the eastern city of Jalalabad, said Enekaas TV, the private television channel she worked for.
Targeted killings of prominent figures, including journalists, clerics, politicians and rights activists, have become more common in recent months as violence surges in the country, despite peace talks between the government and Taliban.
Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial governor, and the local hospital confirmed the killings.
Nangarhar province and its capital, Jalalabad, have seen regular clashes between government forces and the Taliban. The Islamic State, too, has claimed several deadly attacks in the province.
The murder of Maiwand, who was in her 20s, comes just weeks after Radio Liberty reporter Aliyas Dayee was killed in a car bombing in Lashkar Gah.
Human Rights Watch said Dayee had been previously threatened by the Taliban.
A former TV presenter in Kabul, Yama Siawash, was killed in a similar car bombing near his home last month.
No group has claimed these murders so far.
Afghan forces are battling an increase in violence in the country, much of it unleashed by the Taliban as the group attempts to gain leverage in peace talks in Qatar, which opened in September. – AFP, December 10, 2020
