Shooting attack on TV station director in Baghlan
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) firmly condemns yesterday’s shooting attack on Shir Mohammad Jahesh, the director of local TV channel TV Tanvir, in the city of Baghlan in northern Afghanistan.
Gunmen opened fire on Jahesh’s car as he was leaving his office to go home in the late afternoon. Jahesh sustained minor injuries but his bodyguard, Amanollah Haghyar, was killed instantly.
Baghlan province police spokesman Zabihollah Shoja said the police were investigating the shooting. No suspect has so far been arrested.
Jahesh is well known for his journalistic and business activities in northern Afghanistan. He has been threatened several times by both the Taliban and local politicians.
“We call on the Afghan government to conduct a thorough investigation into this deadly attack in order to identify the perpetrators and instigators as quickly as possible,” said Reza Moini, the head of RSF’s Iran-Afghanistan desk.
“At a time when national security officials are voicing concern about an increase in violence and terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, it is essential that protecting journalists should become everyone’s priority”
Afghanistan is ranked 120th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
Afghanistan
