A night-time attack was carried out by eight gunmen on Radio Paiman in the northeastern city of Baghlan on Monday. The assailants beat and gagged the guard and then destroyed all the equipment, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). No journalist was injured.
“Attacks on journalists have increased since the start of the year, which makes their work particularly difficult in this region,” RSF said. “Armed Islamist groups are the main predators of free expression in Afghanistan but we have been told that local police officers have also been involved in cases of violence against the media.”
Radio Paiman director Shir Mohammad Jahesh said he had moved the radio station closer to the police station after receiving Taliban telephone threats. Nonetheless, the police took too long to get to the radio station on the night of the attack to be able to catch the assailants. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which has been condemned by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as a violation of freedom of expression.
