A well-known Afghan journalist shot to death in eastern Afghanistan

The well-known journalist Afghan Maroof Sadat was shot dead on Saturday afternoon by a group of unidentified armed attackers in the city of Jalalabad, capital of eastern Nangarhar province.

Sadat “He was martyred by armed attackers late in the afternoon in the city of Jalalabad and was killed before being transferred to the hospital”, Zeerak Zaheen, owner of Abaseen Radio, a medium where the journalist worked for the last eight years, confirmed to Efe.

The Afghan journalist, who had been practicing since 2006, received several death threats in recent weeks and was trying to flee to Kabul in order not to see his life in danger.

“Four days ago he called me concerned and said that he was receiving serious death threats from various unknown sources and that he could not even travel to his village.Zaheen assured.

At the moment, no one has claimed responsibility for Sadat’s assassination, although in recent years, both the Taliban and the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) have been involved in the main attacks against journalists and media in Nangarhar.

The murder of the Afghan journalist coincides with the death on Saturday of at least five people, including a child and several Taliban security forces, in an attack near a market in Nangarhar, the main IS stronghold in Afghanistan.

At least 33 journalists or media workers were killed between 2018 and 2020 in Afghanistan, according to the latest UN report released in February this year.

Now, since Islamists took control of Afghanistan on August 15, Afghan journalists face greater threats, forcing hundreds of them to leave the country or leave their jobs and live in hiding for fear of possible reprisals.

In recent weeks, Taliban fighters have beaten and temporarily arrested dozens of journalists, especially during coverage of recent protests by women in various parts of the country.

This is the case of Murtaza Samadi, a young journalist who was released on September 30 after being arrested three weeks ago by the Taliban for covering a women’s protest in the eastern city of Herat.

The coming to power of the Taliban has also caused the closure of at least 153 Afghan media outlets, including television, radio, newspaper and news agencies.

Currently no newspaper is printed in the Afghan capital, where there were some 20 newspapers before its fall.