Mina Khairi, a presenter at Ariana News, and her mother are among the victims of Thursday afternoon’s blast in Kabul that killed four people, the head of the Ariana News, Sharif Hassanyar, confirmed. 

Mina’s sister was wounded in the incident.

She went home from the office on Thursday and then went outside with her mother and sister to buy food. They took a minivan and were on their way home when the blast happened.  

The blast happened at around 1:45 pm local time in Chahar Qala area Kabul’s District 6, targeting a small bus.

Six more civilians, including two women and a child, were wounded in the explosion.

Four more civilians were killed in another in the west of Kabul on the same day. Five more civilians were wounded in the blast.

Mina Khairi, 23, worked for Ariana and Ariana News for five years. 

“She studied. She made efforts and wanted to serve her country… But the fate of these youth is under the control of those who claim to do jihad in this country,” said Yusuf, Mina’s uncle.

“We will continue our activities. Freedom of speech was a red line for Mina Khairi and was one of her wishes and we will continue her path,” said Sharif Hassanyar, head of Ariana News.

Three members of another family were also killed in the two blasts west of Kabul on Thursday.

“It is impossible to tolerate this pain. What was the sin of the two innocent children and the woman who were killed (in the blasts)?” asked Fraidoon, brother of a victim.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Mohaqiq, a senior presidential adviser, said on a Facebook post that the president has rejected a national and people-oriented plan for the security of the west of Kabul.

But the Second Vice President Mohammad Sarwar Danesh said the recent killings in the west of Kabul are organized, reiterating that the security agencies should either the plan prepared by the people for the west of Kabul or they should prepare a proper plan to ensure the safety of the residents of western Kabul.

“Security agencies and those who are in the government are directly responsible for ensuring the safety of the people. They must act promptly against the repeated killings and the ‘genocide’ in the west of Kabul and they should be responsive for the people,” Danesh said.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission also called for an end to the killing of civilians.

“We call on the international community to fulfill its moral and legal responsibility towards the protection of the rights of Afghan citizens and end of the war so that human rights are not violated anymore,” said Zabihullah Farhang, head of the media office of the commission.

This comes as TOLOnews anchor Nemat Rawan was killed in an attack by unknown armed men in Kandahar on May 7.

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 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, the report said.