Young female Afghan journalist shot dead in Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan

The targeted killing of a young female journalist in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday sparked unrest among the community.

Mina Mangal was shot dead from close range by unknown assailants in the eastern Rehman Baba locality of Kabul on Saturday morning, the country’s Ministry of Interior said in a statement.

Nusrat Rahimi, the ministry spokesman, said police has begun probe into this apparent case of targeted killing of the female journalist.

Having served as a newscaster and presented at a number of leading private news channels, Mangal was currently serving at the Wolesi Jirga (lower house of parliament).

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the assassination. In a social media post last week, Mina Mangal said she did receive death threats, but did not share details about those threatening her.

The Afghan civil society has called for robust investigations into the killing of Mangal and called on the government to provide safety to journalists.

Afghanistan was dubbed as the deadliest country for journalists by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in a report published in April.

It said a total of 15 journalists and media workers were killed in 2018 in a series of bombings that began early in the year, nine of them in a single day.