Journalists' rights defenders on Friday called for an investigation into the reports of an assault on a local reporter in Kapisa province north of Kabul and said any delay in the assessment of such incidents will have severe impacts on efforts to support press freedom in the country. 

Activists said the journalist, Maqbool Noori who is from Parwan province and was in Kapisa to report on land grabbing was beaten by armed men associated with the head of the dispute resolution and tribal affairs directorate in Kapisa. 

Noori said he was with his colleague when they were attacked by the armed men.  

“They beaten us and threatened to kill us,” he said. 

 “One of them hit me with the gun on my head, another slapped me. They brutally attacked us,” said Noor’s cameraman Baresh Bahman. 

Journalists said such incidents challenge access to information and that they sometimes happen in the central zone. 

“This zone has been faced with serious challenges in terms of access to information, even it has ended up in local official’s anger against journalists and media workers,” said Parwiz Aminzada, a reporter in Parwan. 

“The removal of documents and footage from their camera is not acceptable. This is in contravention of the law. Beating a journalist is a crime,” said Mansoor Latifi, head of Journalists’ safety Committee in Parwan.

But the head of dispute resolution and tribal affairs directorate in Kapisa rejected the allegations. 

 “We will follow it. I promise to personally follow this incident,” said Abdul Latif Murad, the governor of Kapisa.