Kabul's twin bomb blast which killed 25, targeted Journalists including AFP and BBC reporters
Mon Apr 30, 2018 02:54:pm World
3.5K By Obiaks Blog
At least 25 people have been killed in two bombings in the Afghan capital Kabul, including several journalists documenting the scene.
AFP chief photographer in Kabul, Shah Marai, is among the victims.
The first explosion was carried out by an attacker on a motorbike. A second followed about 15 minutes later after a crowd, including several reporters, had gathered at the scene.
The Islamic State group (IS) said it had carried out the attack.
It was one of several fatal incidents on Monday.
BBC reporter Ahmad Shah was also killed in a separate attack in the Khost region.
And in a third attack, 11 children were killed in a suicide bombing intended to target Nato troops in Kandahar province.
Bomber 'disguised himself''
"The bomber disguised himself as a journalist and detonated himself among the crowd," AFP quoted a police spokesman as saying.
At least eight journalists and four police officers were among the dead, interior minister spokesperson Najib Danish told the BBC. So far, 45 people have been reported injured.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty confirmed that three of its journalists were killed in the attack. Abadullah Hananzai, a journalist and cameraman, had been working on a story about narcotics, while Maharram Durrani worked on the weekly women's programme. Sabawoon Kakar had earlier been listed as injured, but died later in hospital
Tolo News said its cameraman Yar Mohammad Tokhi was among the victims
Afghanistan's 1TV said reporter Ghazi Rasooli and cameraman Nowroz Ali Rajabi had been killed
The intelligence services headquarters had been the target, IS said in a statement released through its self-styled news outlet Amaq.
The Shashdarak district also houses the defence ministry and a Nato compound.
"This is the deadliest day for Afghan media in the past 15 years," the head of Tolo News TV, Lotfullah Najafizada, told the BBC.
"We went, all of us, to the blast site. We said: 'If you killed an entire line of journalists reporting here, in five hours time we're back here; the line is longer; the queue is longer and the resolve is greater."
Bombings in the Afghan capital are not uncommon.
Earlier in April, a suicide bomb at a voter registration killed almost 60 people and injured 119, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
The Taliban also remain active in the country, only 30% of which is under full government control, according to BBC research published earlier this year.
BBC
AFP chief photographer in Kabul, Shah Marai, is among the victims.
The first explosion was carried out by an attacker on a motorbike. A second followed about 15 minutes later after a crowd, including several reporters, had gathered at the scene.
The Islamic State group (IS) said it had carried out the attack.
It was one of several fatal incidents on Monday.
BBC reporter Ahmad Shah was also killed in a separate attack in the Khost region.
And in a third attack, 11 children were killed in a suicide bombing intended to target Nato troops in Kandahar province.
Bomber 'disguised himself''
"The bomber disguised himself as a journalist and detonated himself among the crowd," AFP quoted a police spokesman as saying.
At least eight journalists and four police officers were among the dead, interior minister spokesperson Najib Danish told the BBC. So far, 45 people have been reported injured.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty confirmed that three of its journalists were killed in the attack. Abadullah Hananzai, a journalist and cameraman, had been working on a story about narcotics, while Maharram Durrani worked on the weekly women's programme. Sabawoon Kakar had earlier been listed as injured, but died later in hospital
Tolo News said its cameraman Yar Mohammad Tokhi was among the victims
Afghanistan's 1TV said reporter Ghazi Rasooli and cameraman Nowroz Ali Rajabi had been killed
The intelligence services headquarters had been the target, IS said in a statement released through its self-styled news outlet Amaq.
The Shashdarak district also houses the defence ministry and a Nato compound.
"This is the deadliest day for Afghan media in the past 15 years," the head of Tolo News TV, Lotfullah Najafizada, told the BBC.
"We went, all of us, to the blast site. We said: 'If you killed an entire line of journalists reporting here, in five hours time we're back here; the line is longer; the queue is longer and the resolve is greater."
Bombings in the Afghan capital are not uncommon.
Earlier in April, a suicide bomb at a voter registration killed almost 60 people and injured 119, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
The Taliban also remain active in the country, only 30% of which is under full government control, according to BBC research published earlier this year.
BBC
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