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IFJ reiterates calls to Afghan govt to safeguard the lives of journalists

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The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the killing of well-known Ghazni-based journalist Rahmatullah Nikzad, who was gunned down outside his home on Monday night. 
 
In a statement issued by the IFJ on Tuesday, the organization’s General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: “Afghanistan has descended again in terms of journalist safety in 2020 with at least eight media workers killed to date, up from six in 2019. 
 
“The IFJ again implores that the Afghan government must increase its efforts to ensure the safety of journalists in this volatile space. 
 
“Too often journalists are the target, often between internal conflicts and the quest for power. Journalists’ lives must be respected and defended,” Bellanger stated.
 
The IFJ’s Afghanistan affiliate the Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association (AIJA) also condemned “the heinous assassination” and caled for swift action to locate and bring the perpetrators to justice.
 
The AIJA said: “AIJA strongly condemns the killing and call it a crime against humanity. AIJA shares empathy with his family and urges the Security forces to investigate the killing and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
 
Nikzad, a reporter, photographer and chief of the Ghazni Journalists’ Union, was killed by unknown gunmen outside his home on Monday night. 
 
According to the IFJ, Nikzad was shot three times in the chest with a pistol fitted with a silencer as he left his home to visit a local mosque. 
 
The gunmen have not yet been identified and no group has claimed responsibility. 
 
Nikzad, who was in his mid-40s, was a Ghazni resident and started working as a journalist in 2003. 
 
He was associated with several international news outlets and worked on a freelance basis with Al Jazeera and Associated Press. 
 
Al Jazeera issued a statement on Twitter and strongly condemned the attack and attempts to silence journalists in the country and stated it was “shocked at the news of the killing of our cameraman Rahmatullah Nikzad, a former colleague who worked with our team in Afghanistan.”
 
The Taliban meanwhile were quick to distance themselves from the incident on Monday night. Soon after news broke of Nikzad’s death, Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban,  stated they were not involved in the shooting. 
 
Mujahid said Nikzad was a committed journalist and had “maintained good relations” with the group. “We consider this killing a loss for the country,” he said.
 
Nikzad is the third media worker to be killed in Afghanistan this month. On December 10, female reporter Malala Maiwand, and her driver Mohammad Tahir, were shot and killed when assailants opened fire on their car while she was on her way to work in Jalalabad, in Nangarhar province.
 
IS (Daesh) claimed responsibility for the attack. 
 
On November 12, Radio Free Europe correspondent Elias Daei was killed in a targeted magnetic mine explosion in Lashkar Gah.
 
However, the latest killing brings the total number of journalists killed in the past two months to five. 

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Seven Afghan migrants killed in traffic accident in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan

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Seven Afghan migrants have been killed after a vehicle carrying Afghan migrants collided with a fuel-carrying vehicle in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province.

According to the human rights organization HalVash, the accident occurred on Friday in the Sarbaz area of Sistan and Baluchestan.

Siyavash Mohbi, the head of Iran’s traffic police in Sistan and Baluchestan, said the Afghan nationals had entered Iran illegally.

He added that nine other people were injured in the incident.

Mohbi attributed the accident to the negligence of the driver of the vehicle carrying the migrants.

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OIC to hold Afghanistan Contact Group meeting on sidelines of UN General Assembly

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The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has announced that its Contact Group on Afghanistan will meet on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

OIC Secretary-General Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed is leading a high-level delegation from the organization’s General Secretariat to participate in the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Week and hold bilateral meetings with heads of delegations from member states as well as senior UN and international officials.

The OIC will also convene its Annual Coordination Meeting of Member States’ Foreign Ministers at UN Headquarters.

According to the organization, several ministerial contact groups and specialized committees will meet on the sidelines of the General Assembly. These include groups focusing on Palestine, Muslim communities and minorities, regional issues in Europe, Jammu and Kashmir, Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, and Afghanistan.

The OIC did not provide a specific date for the Afghanistan Contact Group meeting.

 

 
 
 
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Afghan official meets Iranian oil minister to discuss energy cooperation

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Ahmad Jan Bilal, General Director of State-Owned Corporations, met with Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad during a visit to Iran to discuss expanding cooperation in the oil and gas sector.

Bilal, accompanied by Mohammad Nasir Rahimi, chief executive of the Afghan state-owned Oil and Gas Corporation, held talks with the Iranian minister on supplying Afghanistan with its oil and gas needs, technical and vocational training, and joint cooperation in oil and gas exploration.

Bilal and his delegation also visited the Iranian Oil Ministry’s research center and oil refineries in Tehran, where they reviewed the facilities’ technical and professional activities and capabilities.

The Iranian side expressed readiness for comprehensive cooperation, necessary coordination and implementation of joint projects in the areas discussed.

At the end of the meeting, both sides introduced joint technical teams tasked with coordinating and following up on the necessary measures to implement the agreed areas of cooperation.

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