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Meanwhile, French Embassy in Kabul condemned attacks on civil society figures and journalists as target the “idea of a free Afghanistan”
AT News
KABUL: The US Chargé d’Affaires in Kabul, Ross Wilson has condemned the attack on an Afghan journalist, Besmillah Adel who was shot dead by a number of unknown gunmen in the western province of Ghor.
“Attacks on freedom of speech and those who seek to inform society are appalling and must end,” Wilson said in a tweet on Friday. In a separate tweet, Wilson shared his condolences to Adel’s family and the citizens of Afghanistan.
Following the increase on recent attacks on string of high-profile activists in the country, a number of journalists in the western province of Herat, held a conference on Saturday, calling on the government to take practical steps to tackle up the threats against the media workers. The participants expressed their deepest frustration on the rise of targeted killing of media workers, saying that the government should hold the perpetrators accountable.
The government failed to clarify who is involved in such attacks, they said.
Activist Sayed Ashraf Sadaat stressed that the journalists and civil society activists have acted neutral in covering news to lay out justice in the society.
They also blamed the government for being failed to provide a tighten security for the people, saying that government’s negligence towards the journalists pave the ground for the militants to target the media workers in order to implement their goals.
The targeted-killing of media workers and civil society activists in Afghanistan has escalated amid peace negotiations which are presently paused after the negotiation teams of government and Taliban decided to take a short break to consult the next steps of the talks with their leaderships.
Meanwhile French embassy in Kabul said that “killings of civil society figures continue in 2021: the 1st day of the year saw the murder of the journalist Bismillah Adil Aimaq, one day after the killing of the activist Abdi Jahid.”
“We condemn in the strongest terms those murders that target the idea of a free Afghanistan,” the embassy said in a series of tweets.
“Those who sustain a high level of violence in the country hold a responsibility in these killings. The Taliban must demonstrate their will to reach peace through dialogue. They must agree to a ceasefire,” the French embassy demanded.
