Afghan Government denied the right to report the news

-
By Hanan Habibzai

Reporters without Borders expresses its concern over the alleged obstruct of journalists trying to cover suicide attacks. The organisation accuses Afghan government that its security forces have beaten several journalists and mistreated by guards when they protested against a denial that prevents media workers to cover a suicide attack on Afghan defence ministry, Tuesday.

The France based journalist defend organisation condemns all the techniques that the Afghan security forces use to prevent journalists entering the scene of an armed attack on the defence ministry in Kabul. ‘‘Only crews from a few foreign and Afghan TV stations were allowed to visit the scene of the shooting’’, a statement said.

Just few metres from the presidential palace, an unknown armed man wearing Afghan security men’s uniform entered Afghan defence ministry main building which houses the office of minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak. The attacker uses a gun killed two Afghan soldiers and injured number of others. The intruder then shot dead before he could trigger the explosives.

Tens of journalists went to the defence ministry to cover the consequences of the attack but they were not allowed to properly report the incident. “We understand that, in such serious circumstances, protecting civilians must be the priority for the security forces,” Reporters Without Borders said.

This is not the first time that the Afghan government is trying to censor news coverage of the Taliban activity. In March 2010, the interior ministry made an attempt to ban all live media coverage of Taliban attacks on the grounds that the information provided by journalists could be used by the militants to organize their activities.

“The news coverage is also a priority and must be respected. Without media coverage, there is a real risk that the facts will be dressed up and the public will be misinformed in a way that suits the Afghan government and its allies. Without proper reporting, it will not be possible to rally the public’s support for the fight against terrorism”, the organisation articulated the concern.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Afghanistan: “It’s Just Damage Limitation Now”

-
By Mark Thompson Source:  time.com   Briton Ben Anderson is a documentary filmmaker (the BBC, HBO, the Discovery Channel), but he turns to the written word in No Worse Enemy : The Inside Story of the Chaotic Struggle for Afghanistan . The book offers a gritty – and grim — assessment of the war. Anderson embedded with U.S. and British troops for months in the southern part of the country from 2007 to 2011. He details corruption, incompetence, fear — by both allied troops and Afghan civilians — and a Groundhog Day kind of existence., where a battle fought for days has to be fought again, later. Most distressingly, he argues that the American and British publics are getting a misleading picture of progress on the ground. Battleland conducted this email chat with Anderson last weekend. Why did you write No Worse Enemy: The Inside Story of the Chaotic Struggle for Afghanistan? I’d been travelling to Helmand for five years, first in 2007 with the Brits, t...
Read more

China bans a painkiller, Dextropopoxyphene

-
Image
By Hanan Habibzai Chinese authorities ordered ban on medicines that contain Dextropropoxyphene, a painkiller. The country’s drug watchdog agency warned that medicines, which have negative side effects, may create a potential threat to the life of citizens. A statement issued earlier this week by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) urged the market, the medicine should be withdrawn. The statement suggests that all companies should stop production, marketing and usage of Dextropropoxyphene, from July this year. The Dextropropoxyphene, used for decades in China, has serious toxic side effects on the heart and could be fatal in high doses, said a press release.The withdrawal will allow a safe transfer of patients to appropriate alternative therapies, the statement added. The decision is based on the outcome of both domestic and overseas research, and the instruction of Chinese experts.According to medical analysts in Europe, there have been concerns about the safety of thi...
Read more

There are non-Taliban poets in the 'Poetry of the Taliban’

-
Image
By Hanan Habibzai It is truly a matter of controversy as it appears that non-Taliban Afghan poets are presented as Taliban. It is a matter of shock to read in the Independent that Ezatullah Zawab, a permanent journalist and poet, is Taliban poet. It is still unclear how many more (non-Taliban names) are there in the ‘ Poetry of the Taliban ’. Zawab is not a Taliban but a critic of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and the continuous political and social corruption within Karzai’s government. He studied at the Nangrahar University, working as a freelance journalist since 2001 in eastern Afghanistan. His reports mainly published by IWPR and the Pajhwok Afghan News . He was among the first journalists who covered the killing of tens of civilians in June 2008 where American-led air-strike bombed a wedding convoy in Shinwari district in eastern Nangrahar province killing more than 55 civilians including the bride. Most of the victims were children and women. In the aftermat...
Read more