Unknown gunmen have shot and killed an Afghan journalist, a local spokesman said Friday, the fifth journalist to have been killed in the country in the past two months.
According to The Associated Press, Bismillah Adil Aimaq was driving near Feroz Koh, the provincial capital of Ghor, on his way home after visiting family in a nearby village.
Arif Abir, the governor’s spokesman, said gunmen then opened fire on the vehicle and killed Aimaq. Abir added that others in the vehicle, including Aimaq’s brother, were unharmed in the attack.
The AP reported that no group has claimed responsibility, and a Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied that its members were involved.
Aimaq, who was also known as a human rights activist, worked as the head of the local station Radio Sada-e-Ghor.
The murder follows the death last week of Ghazni Province journalist union leader Rahmatullah Nekzad. The AP reported that he had been attacked outside his home by a group of armed men.
Nekzad had contributed to reporting to the AP since 2007 and previously worked for Al Jazeera.
In December, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the murder of Afghan anchorwoman Malala Maiwand, who was shot while leaving her home in Nangarhar province.
Maiwand’s death was preceded by the murder of two Afghan journalists in separate bombings.
Reporters Without Borders named Afghanistan one of those this week top five deadliest countries for journalists in 2020, along with Mexico, Iraq, Pakistan and India.
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said this week that the recent deaths mark an increasing trend in attacking Afghan journalists, which the group said has led to self-censorship among the local media.
Violence continued even during the peace talks that began between the Taliban and the government in Kabul in September, although talks have been suspended until this month.
Reporters Without Borders discovered this this week more journalists around the world were killed outside war zones in 2020, with the majority intentionally targeted.
Of the 50 journalists murdered last year, 34 were in countries not involved in an armed conflict. The number of journalists killed outside war zones surpassed that in conflict zones as of 2016.
The 2020 report also found that 42 journalists were deliberately targeted by their work. Those journalists investigated organized crime groups, corruption and topics related to environmental issues such as illegal mining or land grabbing.