First day of 2021 starts with assassination of Ghor journalist

Bismillah Adil, a journalist and civil society activist in Ghor, was assassinated on Friday in Feroz Koh city, the center of the province, local officials confirmed.

Adil was head of Radio Sada-e-Ghor, local radio in Ghor, and was killed by unknown armed men in Dara-e-Taimur village on the outskirts of Feroz Koh city, officials added.

The deputy governor of Ghor has confirmed the incident to the media.

Reports indicate that Adil was also attacked twice in the past by gunmen but he survived.

So far no group claimed responsibility for the attack.

This comes a week after a journalist in Ghazni, Rahmatullah Nikzad, who was head of the journalists’ union in the province, was killed in an attack by armed men outside his home in Ghazni city.

Meanwhile, yesterday Special Forces from the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) have arrested two men in connection with the assassination of Nikzad.

According to the statement, the perpetrators are Taliban militants who were among the 5,000 prisoners freed by government earlier this year under the terms of the US-Taliban agreement.

The militants were identified as Hamidullah and Zikrullah and “were among 5,000 Taliban prisoners that reunited with the Qari Obaid group, who are responsible for targeted killings in Ghazni,” read the statement.

“In the last two months, they (suspects) have assassinated Rahmatullah Nikzad, a judge and two Ghazni revenue department staff members in the province,” the statement read.