Plague of violence: A dozen journalists killed since March

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AT-KABUL: According to a media watchdog, violence against journalists has seen a 30 percent rise as thirteen journalists have been killed due to unrest and violence since late March in Afghanistan.

Chief NAI advocacy group Abdul Mujib Khilwatgar said on Thursday in Kabul that 13 journalists had been killed since late March 2018, heralding a steeping upsurge in violence against media staff.

This year, more than 15 journalists were beaten and 10 of them were threatened, indicating a 36 percent increase in beatings and 20 percent in threats over last year, he reckoned, the fresh incident of violence occurred on Thursday night when unknown gunmen injured Rishad, a political anchor with Noor private TV channel.

He said another fresh incident was registered in southern Ghazni province where special police attempted to remove tinted glasses from the vehicle of Rahmatullah Nikzad, the journalists’ association chief. Despite a presidential ban on tinted car glasses, a number of figures continue to use the tint in their vehicles.

Khilwatgar also said 80 percent of media organizations had not paid salaries to their staff for one to 16 month. He did not name any media in this regard but warned if these media outlets directors did not pay salaries to staff, their names would be revealed to the public.

A number of journalists said the government had failed in providing security to them.