Elyas Daie, a local journalist, was killed after a sticky bomb attached to his vehicle went off in Lashkargah, capital city of the southern Helmand province, a local official confirmed.
Talking to Kabul Now, Omer Zawak, spokesperson for Helmand governor, said that the incident took place earlier today, November 12. He added that Daie’s brother was injured in the incident.
Radio Azadi, the Afghan branch of Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, has confirmed that Daie was working for the media organization and was killed in the blast. It also reported that Mujtaba Daie, brother of Elyas who worked for the Deutsche Welle, was wounded in the attack along with two others.
Afghanistan presidential palace has condemned assassination of the local journalist but did not name any specific group for the murder. It attributed the attack to “enemies of Afghanistan” which is a frequently term used by the government to refer to the Taliban militant group. “Enemies of Afghanistan assassinated Elyas Daie, Da Azadi Radio journalist by an IED this morning in Lashkargah of Helmand in an attempt to hide their heinous crimes and to silence the expressive voice of media,” the palace said in a statement.
NATO’s Senior Civilian Representative to Afghanistan, Stefano Pontecorvo, pronounced that attack as “outrageous and unacceptable” adding that targeted killings are a vile and criminal activity. “Freedom of speech in Afghanistan will not be curtailed by these cowardly actions,” he asserted.
This is the second journalist assassinated in the same way this week in Afghanistan.
Three civilians, including Yama Siavash, former TOLONews presenter, were killed in a sticky bomb explosion in Makroryan-e-Char area of Kabul on Saturday, November 07.
