An Afghan radio journalist was beheaded Tuesday night in the country’s southeast province of Paktika, according to news reports.
AFP quoted a local official as saying that Samid Khan Bahadarzai, 25, had been lured to a meeting with unidentified men hours before his body was found near his home in Urgun, a town close to the border with Pakistan.
Khaama Press, an Afghan online news site, reported that Bahadarzai had worked for Mehman Radio, a local station.
Provincial Police Chief Dawlat Khan Zadran told AFP, “We are investigating to find out who is behind this brutal beheading, but he was killed after receiving a call by someone asking him out.”
The possibility that Taliban militants were involved in the killing was rejected by a Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid. Speaking to the Afghan Islamic Press Agency, Mujahid insisted, “Mujahideen never kill journalists. The Taliban can resolve matters with the journalists by talking with them directly,” AFP reported.
IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills said, “We urge Afghan authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into this brutal murder. Press freedom is essential to a peaceful Afghanistan, and every effort must be made to protect journalists and bring those responsible for crimes against them to justice.”
According to IPI’s Death Watch, 25 journalists have been killed in Afghanistan over the past 10 years. That number includes one other instance of a beheading: Ajmal Nakshbandi, a freelance journalist reportedly killed by the Taliban in 2007.