New York, July 24, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the killing of Aryana television cameraman Abdul Qodus, who died in a double suicide bombing in the Afghan city of Kandahar on Saturday.
Qodus had arrived at the scene of a suicide car bomb when a second attacker with explosives strapped to his body blew himself up, according to the Kabul-based Committee to Protect Afghan Journalists (CPAJ), and news reports. Qodus died of head injuries at a local hospital.
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the two explosions, which also killed two Canadian soldiers and several civilians, according to international news reports.
Qodus, 25, had worked for the Kabul-based private television network Aryana for eight months, according to CPAJ.
“We deplore the death of our colleague Abdul Qodus,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Journalists are especially vulnerable to these kinds of double suicide attacks because they are often among the first on the scene.”
Fighting between Taliban militants and U.S.-led coalition forces, which invaded Afghanistan in 2001, has killed hundreds of people in recent months, according to news reports.