Husain Naderi, 20, a reporter for the news agency Afghan Voice was killed in a bombing at the press event in Mazar-e-Sharif on March 11, 2023
March 13, 2023
Mazar-e-sharif, Balkh province- Husain Naderi, a reporter for the Afghan Voice Agency, was killed in a bombing at the Afghan press event in Mazar-e-Sharif. At least 19 other media workers were injured in the blast. The Afghanistan Journalists Center(AFJC) condemns the attack and urges the Taliban to immediately launch an investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.
On Saturday, March 11, a bomb exploded at the Tabian cultural center and office of the news agency Afghan Voice (AVA), in Mazar-e-Sharif, capital of Balkh province in the second police district of Mazar-e Sharif, as journalists gathered for the award event marking National Journalists Day.
On Sunday the Afghan Voice Agency reported that at least two people were killed in Saturday’s blast but the identity of the fatalities was not immediately known. On Monday, March 13, Sajjad Mosawi, a reporter for the news agency in Balkh province who also was injured in the attack told the AFJC that they identified Husain Naderi, 20, a reporter for AVA was killed in the attack. Naderi joined AVA two years ago and cover the news of Balk province.
Mosawi said that Akmal Nazari, 21, a student of the Journalism faculty in Balkh and a trainee at the agency also died in the attack. According to the AFJC sources in Balkh, at least 19 journalists were injured in the attack, some received serious injuries and suffer hearing loss.
The Islamic State – Khorasan Province, an affiliate of the Islamic State group (Daesh-K) claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement published by its Amaq News Agency. The attack targeted “journalists working in agencies involved in the war against the Islamic State,” the militant group said
AFJC Executive Director Ahmad Quraishi, said:” We are deeply saddened by the killing of Husain Naderi, the first journalist killed in Afghanistan this year. We urge the authorities to immediately launch an investigation and to bring the perpetrators to justice and guarantee the safety of journalists and media workers in the country.”