KABUL (SW) – Former news presenter Nemat Rawan has been assassinated by unidentified gunmen in Kandahar on Thursday, confirmed officials.
He had recently joined the finance ministry as director press affairs.
The incident took place in the city when Nemat Rawan was on his way for Eid shopping. The Kandahar police spokesman Jamal Nasir Barakzai said that unidentified gunmen killed Nemat Rawan in the 9th security district of Kandahar city earlier in the day.
The incident has also worried other journalists in Kandahar. Two journalists in Kandahar, who did not want to be named, said the killing of Nemat Rawan saddened not only them, but journalists across the country, and would have a detrimental effect on media operations. According to them, both the government and the Taliban are looking at journalists from the same position and have warned them.
They called on the government to take immediate steps to protect journalists in Afghanistan. According to him, every terrorist group in the country is trying to assassinate journalists.
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Abdul Sami Ghairatmal, regional head of Nai, the local press freedom organization, that described the incident as “tragic” and said that Nemat’s killing would have a negative impact on the work of other journalists. He added media workers will give up their activities and no one will be willing to work in the field.
Nemat Rawan was a resident of Zabul province and had been living in Kandahar City with his family for some time.
He graduated from Kandahar University with a degree in journalism and has worked for local television stations in Kandahar as well as for Tolo News in Kabul. He was recently appointed as the Press Director of the Ministry of Finance. Nemat Rawan is the cousin of Dawa Khan Minapal, director of the government’s media center.
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