New Delhi (NVI): The European Union has strongly condemned the targeted attacks on journalists and women in Afghanistan while calling on warring factions to end the violence in the country.
The EU’s statement comes just two days after the atrocious attack on three female media workers in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province in which they were killed. The incident took place in the downtown Jalalabad city, the provincial capital, when the three women were returning home.
The EU said that the attack on the three female workers in Nangarhar, in atrocious, planned assassinations deprives three young individuals of their future and their families, friends, and colleagues of loved ones, said a TOLO News report.
“The Taliban remain responsible for the majority of civilian casualties and targeted assassinations, either directly or by opposing a ceasefire,” the EU was quoted as saying by the Afghan media website.
“Targeting journalists must stop. Targeting women must stop. The violence in Afghanistan must stop,” read the EU statement.
The EU further said in its statement that it expects transparent and thorough investigations of all these attacks and assassinations, reiterating its resolve to support media and the freedom of speech in Afghanistan.
Such targetted killings, even after the gunning down of Malalai Maiwand in December, illustrate the vulnerable and dangerous situation that media workers, especially women, face in Afghanistan, EU said.
Malalai Maiwand was Enikas Radio and TV presenter in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar. In a similar attack in December, the 26-year-old journalist was shot shot dead by ISIS terrorists in Jalalabad.
The three women killed in Tuesday attack, used to translate Indian and Turkish dramas to local languages, as per reports in the media.
“It also continues a worrying trend of systematic, targeted attacks and killings of journalists, human rights defenders, civil society representatives and civil servants, which cost the lives of 1,200 civilians in 2020, a 45% increase compared to 2019,” EU said.
-ARK
