TV presenter shot dead in Afghanistan

Sylvie Claire / December 10, 2020

A television presenter and her driver were shot dead Thursday morning in Jalalabad (east), an official source has learned, which constitutes the third murder of a journalist in Afghanistan since the beginning of November.

At 07:10 this morning (02:40 GMT Thursday), unidentified gunmen shot dead journalist and activist Malalai Maiwand and her driver (in) Jalalabad, told AFP Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of the province of Nangarhar, of which Jalalabad is the capital.

The Afghan celebrity was on his way to the offices of the private television station Enekaas TV, for which she worked, when the attack took place.

Increase in this type of attacks

Targeted attacks targeting personalities - journalists, politicians and clerics, human rights defenders - have increased in recent months, despite ongoing peace talks in Doha between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

This is the third murder of an Afghan journalist since early November.