Pain Deepens for Afghanistan's Media | Human Rights Watch

Patricia Gossman
Two years ago, Shah Marai, a photographer for Agence France Presse, described the pain of living in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, with little hope for a better future. “I don’t dare to take my children for a walk,” he wrote.  “All I think of are cars that can be booby-trapped, or of suicide bombers coming out of a crowd.”

His words were tragically prophetic. Shah Marai was one of nine journalists who died today when a bomber posing as a journalist blew himself up in a crowd of first-responders who had arrived on the scene of another suicide attack 20 minutes earlier. The blasts, just days before World Press Freedom Day, occurred near the headquarters of the National Directorate of Intelligence and other government buildings. In all, the twin bombings killed 29 people and injured at least 45, mostly civilians. The Islamic State of Khorason Province (ISKP), the local franchise of the Islamic State, has claimed responsibility.

Yar Mohammad Tokhi, a cameraman for Tolonews, also died in the attack, as did Mashal TV reporter Salim Talash and cameraman Ali Salimi; 1TV reporter Ghazi Rasouli and cameraman Nowruz Ali; and Radio Free Europe reporters Abadullah Hananzai, Maharram Durrani and Sabawoon Kakar.

To attack non-combatants aiding the wounded and dying is an attack on the right to health. Killing journalists is an attack on freedom of expression. Under the laws of war, deliberate attacks on civilians are war crimes. Posing as a journalist to carry out an attack is also perfidious, a war crime in which the attacker assumes civilian status. - Read More

Pain Deepens for Afghanistan's Media | Human Rights Watch