KABUL: Afghan journalists left shaken by the bloodiest attack on the media of Afghanistan’s protracted war have pledged to brave the threats and work for press freedom.
“We are all personally affected by this, but we have to continue our struggle for a free press in Afghanistan,” said Massoud Hossaini, a Pulitzer prize-winning photographer with The Associated Press.
Hossaini told Arab News that shock and fear had engulfed the media after bloody attacks on Monday killed nine local journalists, including reporters and cameramen, in Kabul.
“Nothing can stop me. We may face censorship and tough times as government officials may block us from free reporting, saying ‘this is to protect the journalists from another attack or threat.’ But we will keep doing our job.”
The nine journalists were killed as they covered an earlier suicide attack outside a security compound.
Many journalists believe the second attack was a “targeted killing.”
Affiliates of Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack, which coincided with the killing of a BBC local reporter in the southeastern city of Khost. Another local reporter was killed in southern Kandahar province a few days earlier, raising concerns about media safety.
The chief photographer for AFP, Shah Marai, was among those who died in the attack on Monday. Marai had covered the conflict in the country for several years.
“Silence of the press means silence of the society, and that will bring dictatorship in Afghanistan,” Hossaini said.
Many Afghan dailies published front pages in black as a sign of mourning.
Parwiz Kawa, a prominent local journalist, said the loss was painful but would not deter the press. “We are targeted and will be targeted, but we will continue to be there for freedom of the press,” he said.
Sabir Fahim, a senior official at the media advocacy group NAI, said the deaths were a disaster for Afghan journalists similar to losing members of one’s family. “But we must support free speech and media because that has become a value of our society and we do not want to lose that,” he said.
The Afghanistan Journalist Safety Committee (AJSC) said media unions had asked the government to investigate the attack outside the security office following speculation that inside help could have allowed journalists to be targeted.
“While AJSC welcomes strong statements of condemnation from the international community, we urge you to do more to help ensure the protection of a free press and journalists in Afghanistan. We urge you and the UN to fully investigate the attack on Afghan journalists,” the committee said in a statement.
Fahim said journalists had passed a list of demands to the government, including a call for an official inquiry with the findings to be released to the public.
“There are questions in the minds of many journalists and the public that this event was orchestrated, either within the government or outside it. That needs to be fully investigated,” he said.
Shah Hussain Murtazawi, President Ashraf Ghani’s chief spokesman, said journalist representatives and the AJSC had met with government leaders on Monday night.
Any negligence that may have led to the attack would be investigated, he said.
