June 4, 2021
Kabul—A news presenter at Ariana News, Mina Khairi was killed alongside her mother in capital Kabul in an IED blast on Thursday evening, Ariana New confirmed.
“At 2:30 pm she finished her show at Ariana News and went home, and four hours later together with her mother and sister, went out shopping, taking a minivan, within minutes, a sticky bomb attached in the van exploded and she was killed alongside her mother,” News manager at Ariana News Ahmad Farshad Saleh told AFJC
Mina’s sister was wounded in the incident that happened at Pul-e-Sokhta area of Kabul PD6, Saleh added
The 23-year-old had worked as a presenter for Ariana News radio and television programs since 2017.
According to the Kabul police statement, four civilians, including two women killed and six more were wounded in the explosion.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.
“We deeply outraged and saddened by the death of Mina Khairi, we expect the incident to be investigated and perpetrators brought to justice, and demand rigorous action towards the safety of media employees in Afghanistan,” said AFJC Executive Director Ahmad Quraishi
A wave of targeted assassinations in particular journalists and media workers has spread fear in Afghanistan, as the US withdraws troops following a February 2020 deal with the Taliban. Mina Khairi is the fifth journalist and media worker to be killed in 2021 and the 12th since the US-Taliban peace deal. On March 2, three women workers of Enikas TV were ‘shot dead in two separate attacks by Daesh(IS-K)’ in eastern Jalalabad city.