IS claims it killed three women working for television station in Afghanistan

THE so-called Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the killing of three women working for a local radio and TV station in eastern Afghanistan.

Dozens of people gathered yesterday for the funerals of the three women, who were employed by Enikass Radio and TV.

The women were gunned down on Tuesday in separate attacks, according to the news editor of the privately-owned station and officials in Jalalabad, in Nangarhar province.

Shokrullah Pasoon, news editor of Enikass Radio and TV, said one of the women, Mursal Wahidi, was walking home when gunmen opened fire. The other two victims, identified only as Shahnaz and Sadia, were shot and killed in a separate incident, also while walking home from work. Two other people, apparently passers-by, were wounded in the shooting.

The three women dubbed popular dramas from Turkey and India into Afghanistan’s local languages of Dari and Pashtu, added Mr Pasoon.

Afghan officials said police arrested the alleged killer of the three, identifying him as Qari Baser and insisting he was a member of the Taliban – although this claim was promptly denied by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

Nangarhar police chief Juma Gul Hemat said Baser had used a pistol with a silencer in the attacks.

The IS claim contradicted the Afghan government’s accusations against the Taliban. The militants said the three female journalists were targeted because they worked for one of the “media stations loyal to the apostate Afghan government”.

It is not the first attack against women working at Enikass Radio and TV. In December, IS claimed the killing of another female employee there, Malala Maiwand.

Afghanistan is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for media workers.

Tuesday’s killings brought the number of media workers killed in Afghanistan in the last six months to 15.