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KABUL: A female doctor was killed in a bomb blast in Jalalabad, the capital city of eastern Nangarhar province and seven Hazara workers have been killed in Surkh Rod district of the same province.
The doctor lost her life after a magnetic bomb attached to a vehicle she was travelling in went off, the provincial governor spokesman said.
She was commuting in a rickshaw when the bomb exploded. This came as on Tuesday, three female journalists, Sadia Sadaat, Shahnaz Raufi and Mursal Wahidi were shot dead by unknown gunmen in two separate attacks again in Jalalabad city. The slain journalists were working for Enikass, a private TV Channel.
The doctor was on her way to the provincial hospital’s maternity ward when the bomb exploded. A child also received injuries.
In the wake of deteriorated security situation, seven people were shot dead in Surkh Rod district. They were working in a plaster factory, Juma Gul Hemat, the Provincial Police Chief said.
Police have arrested four suspects in connection, according to the police. The laborers were all from Hazara community. Some of them have gone from Kabul, from Bamyan and from Balkh provinces to work in the factory.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Islamic State (IS) also known as Daesh terrorists have often targeted Hazaras in different provinces, including Kabul.
This is as the security situation is getting worse around the country, where now the journalists, religious scholars, civil society activists, judges, female employees, and of course government civil employees are under direct attack.
The European Union in Afghanistan said that killing of three female media workers, Mursal Wahedi, Shahnaz Raofi and Sadya Sadat in Jalalabad, in atrocious, planned assassinations deprives three young individuals of their future, and their families, friends and colleagues of loved ones.
“Following the killing of Malalai Maiwand in December, these attacks further illustrate the vulnerable and dangerous situation that media workers, especially women, face. 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,” it said in a statement.
“The Taliban remain responsible for the majority of civilian casualties and targeted assassinations, either directly or by opposing a ceasefire. Targeting journalists must stop. Targeting women must stop. The violence in Afghanistan must stop.”
The European Union called for transparent and thorough investigations of all these attacks and assassinations. “We mourn together with those affected and reiterate the European Union’s resolve to support the media and the freedom of speech in Afghanistan.”
