Afghanistan / Asia

  
Police and firefighters are seen at the site of a suicide blast in Kabul on June 20, 2016. Several journalists were obstructed from reporting at the scene. (Reuters/Mirwais Harooni)

By now, Afghan authorities should know media are not the enemy

Several journalists in Kabul–the exact number is unclear–were beaten, harassed, and kept from working by security forces when they rushed to cover a suicide bombing on Monday that killed 14 people and wounded more than eight. In an email message, the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC), an organization with which we work closely, said when…

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Two NPR journalists killed in Afghanistan

New York, June 5, 2016 – Afghan interpreter Zabihullah Tamanna and American photographer David Gilkey were killed today while traveling in a military convoy in southern Afghanistan, according to their employer, U.S. public broadcaster NPR. The two were traveling with an Afghan army unit near Marjah, in Helmand province, when the convoy came under attack.

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Tolo TV news director Lotfullah Najafizada, pictured second left in the Kabul newsroom, says staff remain committed to journalism despite the threats and risk of attack. (Reuters/Ahmad Masood)

‘We are at a critical juncture,’ Tolo TV’s head of news says after bomb kills seven

For people outside of Afghanistan, the January 20 attack on the Tolo TV van, which killed seven people and wounded about two dozen more staffers, was just one more horrendous event in a series of bombings, military skirmishes, attacks, counter attacks, and standoffs around the country. The attack was widely reported but, for outside observers,…

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The brother of a Tolo TV employee killed in a suicide attack on Kabul television station weeps at his funeral, January 26, 2016 (Reuters/Ahmad Masood).

Growing fears as more Afghan journalists and media workers come under the gun

New York, February 1, 2016 — The fatal shooting of senior Afghan broadcast journalist Mohammad Zubair Khaksar on Friday and the beating of freelance reporter Yahya Jawahari on Sunday further raise concerns for the safety of Afghan journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The attacks follow a suicide bombing attack on employees of…

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Afghan security forces examine the wreckage of a vehicle carrying Tolo TV employees in Kabul. A suicide attack on the minivan killed six staff and injured more than 25. (AFP/Shah Marai)

CPJ condemns attack on Tolo TV employees in Afghanistan

New York, January 20, 2016–A suicide bombing in Kabul today killed seven employees from the Afghan station Tolo TV, according to news reports and the station. The attack on staff returning from work at the privately owned station injured 27 others, including 26 staff, according to Tolo TV. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the…

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CPJ condemns threats by Taliban against Afghan media

New York, October 13, 2015–A Taliban website on Monday threatened journalists associated with two privately owned Afghan TV outlets, Tolo TV and 1TV, with “elimination,” according to news reports.

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Getting Away With Murder

CPJ’s 2015 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and the killers go free Published October 8, 2015 Elisabeth Witchel/CPJ Impunity Campaign Consultant The ambush of a convoy in South Sudan and the hacking deaths of bloggers in Bangladesh this year propelled the two nations onto CPJ’s Global Impunity Index, which spotlights countries…

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Pajhwok Afghan News agency targeted in bomb blast

New York, June 11, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned by a bomb attack on the Pajhwok Afghan News agency’s Jalalabad office in Nangahar province on Wednesday night. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to media reports.

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A female reporter runs with a rebel fighter while evading snipers near Aleppo, Syria, October 10, 2014. (Reuters/Jalal Al-Mamo)

Going it alone: More freelancers means less support, greater danger

Matthieu Aikins probably wouldn’t saunter into Afghanistan again in the way he did six years ago.

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International journalists killed at high rate in 2014; Middle East deadliest region

Syria is the world’s deadliest country for journalists for the third year in a row. International journalists were killed at a higher rate in 2014 than in recent years. A CPJ special report by Shazdeh Omari

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