On the evening of June 3, 2021, unidentified attackers detonated an improvised explosive device attached to a van carrying Mina Khairi, an anchor at the local broadcaster Ariana News TV, in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to news reports and Ahmad Farshad Saleh, a news manager at Ariana News TV, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.
The explosion killed Khairi, her mother, and two other passengers, and also injured the journalist’s sister, according to those sources, which said that no group has claimed responsibility for the bombing. Khairi’s sister died in hospital two day after the blast, according to reports.
Saleh told CPJ that other employees at the station had recently received threats, but he was not aware of any threats made to Khairi.
Khairi, 23, joined Ariana News TV in May 2017 and hosted general news and political affairs shows, Saleh told CPJ. Ariana News TV part of Ariana Television, a privately owned news and entertainment broadcaster, according to its website, which says that the outlet focuses on covering “education, health, children’s programming, women’s and world issues.”
Saleh said he believed that killing was an attempt by some group to create panic among journalists and dissuade them from reporting the news. He told CPJ in a text message on July 14 that no group or individual had claimed responsibility for the killing.
CPJ emailed the Kabul police for comment, but did not receive any reply.