A number of journalists, including a senior AFP photographer, have died in a suicide attack in Kabul as a bomber disguised as a fellow cameraman detonated a second bomb at the site of an earlier explosion.

At least 29 people died in the two explosions on Monday morning in the Afghan capital Kabul, according to government officials.
The first blast took place at around at 8 a.m. local time in the Shashdarak area of the city, where the US embassy and Afghan government buildings are located, prompting journalists to rush to the scene.

The second explosion came as the attacker, posing as a cameraman, detonated explosives as journalists huddled around the scene, Kabul City Police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai told CNN.

Star photographer killed

French news agency Agence France Presse confirmed that its photographer Shah Marai was among the dead.
The agency said Marai joined AFP as a driver in 1996, the year the Taliban seized power, and in 2002 he became a full-time photo stringer, rising through the ranks to become chief photographer in the bureau.
AFP Global News Director Michele Leridon released a statement on the death of the long-serving photographer.
“This is a devastating blow, for the brave staff of our close-knit Kabul bureau and the entire agency. Shah Marai was a treasured colleague who spent more than 15 years documenting the tragic conflict in Afghanistan for AFP.”
He leaves behind six children, including a newborn daughter, AFP said.
In an essay entitled “When Hope is Gone,” written in 2016 — before the birth of his sixth child — he acknowledged the danger of living in the city with his young family.
“I don’t dare to take my children for a walk. I have five and they spend their time cooped up inside the house.
“Every morning as I go to the office and every evening when I return home, all I think of are cars that can be booby-trapped, or of suicide bombers coming out of a crowd. I can’t take the risk.”
The site of the explosion was close to NATO’s Afghan headquarters, the US embassy and Afghan government buildings, including the Presidential palace, the Defense Ministry and the headquarters of Afghanistan’s intelligence services.
US Ambassador John Bass condemned the attack.
“I condemn today’s terrible Kabul attack (and) reaffirm our commitment (to) stand with the Afghan people in their fight for peace (and) security across Afghanistan. We mourn for those murdered, including the brave journalists who stand for truth in the face of violence,” he wrote on Twitter.

Related Post

The truth about Afghan women

Posted by - September 20, 2021 0
September 20, 2021 Afghan women from all segments of society have been suffering in one way or another since more