August 28, 2021
Kabul- Two journalists are among the casualties of the Kabul airport blast. Alireza Ahmadi, a reporter for the Raha News Agency, and Najma Sadeqi, a presenter at Jahan-e-Sehat TV channel were killed in a suicide attack on August 26.
The attack also claimed the lives of more than 180 people including 13 US service members outside Kabul airport amid a huge and chaotic evacuation effort from Afghanistan.
The explosion happened among the crowds of Afghans that had flocked to Kabul’s airport, in the waning days of airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover.
The Afghan affiliate of the ISIL (ISIS), known as the Islamic State Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Afghanistan Journalists Center condemned the attack.
“We are saddened at the deaths of yet two journalists in Afghanistan,” said AFJC executive director Ahamad Quraishi. “We extend our condolences to the members of journalists Alireza Ahmadi and Najma Sadiqi. “The AFJC expresses grave concern to the security and safety of journalists in Afghanistan at this critical juncture and urges the international community to do all it can to evacuate journalists most at risk.”
The Kabul’s airport deaths bring to at least 127 the number of journalists and media workers killed in Afghanistan since 2001, making it one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.