Afghanistan: Unknown gunmen kills journalist in Ghor

Mohammad Aref Abir, a spokesman to Ghor governor, told Khaama Press that Adil was killed in an attack by unknown armed men, in Dara-e-Taimoor village on the outskirts of the city.

Aimaq was the head of Sada-e-Ghor Radio, journalist and a civil society activist.

Violence against journalists and media has increased in Afghanistan in recent months, although a respite might have been expected because of the peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government. In all, six journalists and media workers have been killed this year in Afghanistan, read the Reporters Without Borders website.

Backed by RSF, the Afghan journalistic community wrote a letter to the UN Security Council on 18 November urging it to take concrete measures to combat the growing violence against the media in Afghanistan and to put pressure on those responsible to stop targeting journalists.

Afghanistan is ranked 122nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2020 World Press Freedom Index.  

Meanwhile,  a total of 50 journalists were killed worldwide in 2020, according to the second part of the annual round-up of abusive treatment and violence against journalists, published today by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

While the number of journalists killed in countries at war continues to fall, more are being murdered in countries not at war.