Journalism Pakistan
Journalism Pakistan
Freedom of expression shrinks in Pakistan as PECA Amendments take toll: report اظہارِ رائے کی آزادی محدود، پیکا میں ترامیم سے میڈیا کو شدید دھچکا: رپورٹDawn urges Indian media to abandon war rhetoric ڈان کی بھارتی میڈیا سے جنگی بیانیہ ترک کرنے کی اپیلIndia bans 16 Pakistani YouTube channels following Pahalgan attack پہلگام حملے کے بعد بھارت نے پاکستان کے 16 یوٹیوب چینلز پر پابندی لگا دی'In A Different Realm' offers a philosophical take on cricket's greatest innings ان اے ڈیفرنٹ ریلم کرکٹ کی عظیم ترین اننگز پر ایک فکری نقطۂ نظر پیش کرتی ہےCoordinated or coincidence? Identical tweets by Pakistani journalists raise eyebrows ہم آہنگی یا محض اتفاق؟ پاکستانی صحافیوں کے ایک جیسے ٹویٹس نے سوالات اٹھا دیےThe PSL paradox: pageantry or progress? پی ایس ایل کا تضاد: دکھاوا یا ترقی؟Sher Afzal Marwat launches personal attacks on journalists after PTI expulsion پی ٹی آئی سے نکالے جانے کے بعد شیر افضل مروت کے صحافیوں پر ذاتی حملےJournalist Sanaullah Khan alleges FIA blocking accounts of YouTubers and families صحافی ثناء اللہ خان کا انکشاف: ایف آئی اے یوٹیوبرز اور ان کے خاندانوں کے اکاؤنٹس بلاک کر رہی ہےA launch in style: Dr. Nauman Niaz unveils 'In A Different Realm' ان اے ڈفرنٹ ریلم کی رونمائی: ڈاکٹر نعمان نیاز کی کتاب Sindhi journalist AD Shar brutally murdered, PFUJ declares three-day mourning سندھی صحافی اے ڈی شر کا بہیمانہ قتل، پی ایف یو جے نے تین روزہ سوگ کا اعلان کر دیاAJK government registers case against newspaper and staff آزاد کشمیر حکومت کا اخبار اور عملے کے خلاف مقدمہJournalist Arzoo Kazmi alleges FIA threats, possible arrest over reporting صحافی آرزو کاظمی کا دعویٰ: ایف آئی اے کی دھمکیاں، رپورٹنگ پر ممکنہ گرفتاری

Suicide bombers storm Afghan state broadcaster

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published May 17, 2017

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Suicide bombers storm Afghan state broadcaster

Suicide bombers stormed the national television station in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad Wednesday, triggering gunfights and explosions with journalists trapped inside the building, officials and eyewitnesses said.

At least two people were killed and 16 others wounded in the nearly four-hour assault on Radio Television Afghanistan, which marks the latest in a string of assaults on media workers in Afghanistan.

No insurgent group has so far claimed responsibility for the raid in Nangarhar province, a hotbed of Islamic State jihadists, where the US military dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb last month in an unprecedented attack.

"Four attackers, who entered the RTA building this morning, have been killed," government spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP after the attack ended.

"At least two civilians, including an RTA guard, were killed and 16 others wounded," Kohgyani said, with a health worker telling AFP that many of those brought to hospital suffered gunshot wounds.

An RTA photographer said he fled the building as soon as the gunfight erupted, but many of his colleagues were stuck inside until the assailants were killed.

Islamic State insurgents are active in Nangarhar province, of which Jalalabad is the capital.

The US military last month dropped the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb - dubbed the "Mother Of All Bombs" - on IS positions in Nangarhar, killing dozens of jihadists.

The bombing triggered global shock waves, with some condemning the use of Afghanistan as what they called a testing ground for the weapon, and against a militant group that is not considered as big a threat as the resurgent Taliban.

According to the US Forces-Afghanistan, defections and recent battlefield losses have reduced the local IS presence from a peak of as many as 3,000 fighters to a maximum of 800.

Deadly country for media

The Pentagon has reportedly asked the White House to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan to break the deadlocked fight against the Taliban.

US troops in Afghanistan number about 8,400 today, and there are another 5,000 from NATO allies, who also mainly serve in an advisory capacity -- a far cry from the US presence of more than 100,000 six years ago.

Wednesday's attack marks the latest militant assault on an Afghan media organization.

Afghanistan suffered its deadliest year on record for journalists in 2016, according to the Afghan Journalists' Safety Committee (AJSC), adding that the country is the second most dangerous for reporters in the world after Syria.

As least 13 journalists were killed last year, AJSC said, claiming that the Taliban was behind at least 10 of the deaths.

In January last year, seven employees of popular TV channel Tolo, which is often critical of the insurgents, were killed in a Taliban suicide bombing in Kabul in what the militant group said was revenge for "spreading propaganda" against them.

It was the first major attack on an Afghan media organization since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001 and spotlighted the dangers faced by journalists as the security situation worsens.

Dan Coats, the head of US intelligence agencies, warned last week that the security situation "will also almost certainly deteriorate through 2018, even with a modest increase in the military assistance by the US".

US-led forces have been fighting in Afghanistan for almost 16 years, making it America's longest war. - AFP

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