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AFP
Kabul
A former Afghan television presenter and two other civilians were killed in a Kabul bombing on Saturday, in an attack officials blamed on a group linked to the Taliban.
Yama Siawash was killed when a bomb attached to his vehicle exploded near his home in the Afghan capital, police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz told journalists.
The murder of Siawash comes amid a rise in violence across the country even as the Taliban and Afghan government engage in peace talks in Qatar to end the country’s grinding war.
Siawash, who recently joined Afghanistan’s central bank as an adviser, used to be a prominent political and current affairs presenter with Tolo News, the country’s biggest private TV channel, known for his hard-hitting interview style.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the interior ministry blamed the Haqqani network, a group linked to the Taliban.
“Such targeted attacks and explosions of sticky bombs is the continuation of crimes by Haqqani network and the Taliban,” Tariq Arian, spokesman for the ministry, told reporters.
Washington has listed the Haqqani network as a terrorist group.
Siawash’s death drew immediate condemnation from senior Afghan officials and foreign diplomats.
“I am shocked at the killing of former Tolo News anchor Yama Siawash,” Ross Wilson, US charge d’affaires in Kabul, said on Twitter.
“This attack is an assault on freedom of the press, one of Afghanistan’s core democratic principles.”
Abdullah Abdullah, who heads the country’s overall peace and reconciliation process, also said Siawash’s murder targeted freedom of expression in Afghanistan.
Kabul
A former Afghan television presenter and two other civilians were killed in a Kabul bombing on Saturday, in an attack officials blamed on a group linked to the Taliban.
Yama Siawash was killed when a bomb attached to his vehicle exploded near his home in the Afghan capital, police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz told journalists.
The murder of Siawash comes amid a rise in violence across the country even as the Taliban and Afghan government engage in peace talks in Qatar to end the country’s grinding war.
Siawash, who recently joined Afghanistan’s central bank as an adviser, used to be a prominent political and current affairs presenter with Tolo News, the country’s biggest private TV channel, known for his hard-hitting interview style.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the interior ministry blamed the Haqqani network, a group linked to the Taliban.
“Such targeted attacks and explosions of sticky bombs is the continuation of crimes by Haqqani network and the Taliban,” Tariq Arian, spokesman for the ministry, told reporters.
Washington has listed the Haqqani network as a terrorist group.
Siawash’s death drew immediate condemnation from senior Afghan officials and foreign diplomats.
“I am shocked at the killing of former Tolo News anchor Yama Siawash,” Ross Wilson, US charge d’affaires in Kabul, said on Twitter.
“This attack is an assault on freedom of the press, one of Afghanistan’s core democratic principles.”
Abdullah Abdullah, who heads the country’s overall peace and reconciliation process, also said Siawash’s murder targeted freedom of expression in Afghanistan.
