Afghanistan’s journalist community has strongly reacted to the assassination of Nemat Rawan, a former TOLOnews anchor who was killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen in Kandahar on Thursday morning.

The Presidential Palace in a statement condemned the killing of Rawan and denounced the continuation of the war as against Islamic principles.

The Palace described the killing as an act of terrorism.

The Afghan Journalists Safety Committee called on the UN and the Afghan government to ensure the security of journalists and media workers.

“AJSC strongly condemns the assassination of a former presenter, Nemat Rawan. Mr. Rawan newly started his work as a public servant with the Ministry of Finance. We call on the government to seriously investigate the case so perpetrators are brought to justice,” the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee said.

The Presidential Palace said that continuation of violence by the Taliban and the continuation of fighting will further complicate the crisis.

The Taliban’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Twitter denied the group's involvement in the killing of Rawan.

“All sides must abide by their commitments towards media. Recently the media has been threatened from various sides, this paves the way for other groups to exploit the gaps,” said Hamed Mayar, a journalist.

“Journalists are civilians. An attack on journalists is an attack on civilians and it is a war crime,” said Sediqullah Tawhidi, a journalist.

Other journalists said that such killings serve to demoralize independent journalists.

“Both the Afghan government and the Taliban directly and indirectly threaten media, this is something to put a knee on the neck of press freedom,” said Sayed Ahmad Abrar, a journalist. 

“Terrorists have always tried to target the elites of the society to weaken the morale of the journalists and media,” said Esmatullah Ahmadzai, a journalist.

Those journalists who lost their lives in 2020 are: 

Safar Mohammad Atal, an anchor of Samson Radio in Helmand;

Ahmad Khan Nawid, an anchor of Ghor Radio in Feroz koh city;

Mir Wahid Shah Amiri, Khorshid TV reporter in Kabul;

Shafiq Zabih, a cameraman at Khorshid TV;

Elyas Daee, a Radio Azadi reporter in Helmand;

Malala Maiwand, Eekas TV anchor in Nangarhar;

Rahmatullah Nekzad, a freelance reporter in Ghazni; and Tahir Khan, a driver at Enekas TV in Nangarhar.

On the first day of 2021, a reporter, Bismillah Adil Aimaq, was killed in an attack by unknown armed men in Ghor. He was head of a local radio station in the province.

According to a recent report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, at least 11 human rights defenders and media workers were killed in targeted attacks in Afghanistan from September 2020 through to January 31, 2021.

A total of 65 human rights defenders and media professionals were killed in the period from January 1, 2018, to January 31, 2021, it said.

On April 2, Human Rights Watch accused the Taliban of "deliberately targeting journalists and other media workers, including women," in Afghanistan, saying that such attacks and threats have increased sharply since the start of the talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha.

The watchdog says these attacks increase concerns about preserving freedom of expression and the media in any peace settlement.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says it has found that “the Taliban commanders and fighters have engaged in a pattern of threats, intimidation, and violence against members of the media in areas where the Taliban have significant influence, as well as in Kabul.”