Female news anchor Mina Khairi of Ariana News was killed in an IED blast on 3 June. She is the fifth journalist and media worker to be killed in 2021 in Afghanistan.
This statement was originally published on afjc.af on 4 June 2021.
A news presenter at Ariana News, Mina Khairi, was killed alongside her mother in the capital city, Kabul, in an IED blast on Thursday evening, June 3 2021, Ariana News confirmed.
“At 2:30 pm she finished her show at Ariana News and went home, and four hours later together with her mother and sister, went out shopping, taking a minivan; within minutes, a bomb attached to the van exploded and she was killed alongside her mother,” Ahmad Farshad Saleh, News manager at Ariana News, told AFJC.
Mina’s sister was wounded in the incident that took place in the Pul-e-Sokhta area, Kabul PD6, Saleh added.
The 23-year-old had worked as a presenter for Ariana News radio and television programs since 2017.
According to the Kabul police statement, four civilians, including two women, were killed and six more were wounded in the explosion.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.
“We are deeply outraged and saddened by the death of Mina Khairi, we expect the incident to be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice, and demand rigorous action towards the safety of media employees in Afghanistan,” said AFJC Executive Director Ahmad Quraishi.
A wave of targeted assassinations of particular journalists and media workers has spread fear in Afghanistan, as the US is withdrawing its troops following a February 2020 deal with the Taliban. Mina Khairi is the fifth journalist and media worker to be killed in 2021 and the 12th since the US-Taliban peace deal. On March 2, three women workers of Enikas TV were ‘shot dead in two separate attacks by Daesh (IS-K)’ in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
