Police in the restive southern Afghan city of Kandahar are investigating the murder of a journalist.
Unknown assailants killed Abdul Manan Arghand during morning rush hour in Kandahar’s ninth district.
Matiullah Hilal, a spokesman for the police in Kandahar, says they are investigating the killing, which involved two attackers riding on a motorcycle.
“Arghand was driving to his work when two assailants intercepted him and shot him dead,” he told Radio Free Afghanistan. “The assailants are on the run, but police are trying to arrest them soon.”
Arghand, 30, reported for the private Kabul News television. His colleagues say he had received threats recently.
“We had informed and shared all evidence [of threats to Arghand] with the Kandahar police, provincial governor, and other officials,” says Javed Ahmad Tanvir, head of the Kandahar Press Club.
Arghand is the third journalist killed in southern Afghanistan in the past two years. Nematullah Zaheer and Yaqoob Sharafat were killed in the neighboring restive provinces of Helmand and Uruzgan.
Arghand is survived by his widow, their son, and two daughters. He was killed on the same day that a meeting held in Kabul discussed ways to protect journalists.
The United Nations Assistance Mission has condemned the killing.
Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. Last year, at least 20 journalists were killed while the Afghan Journalists' Safety Committee recorded 169 cases of violence or threats.