‘Exhausted’ Afghan troops fighting Taliban in south ‘need reinforcements’

The bus was reportedly taking staff from Tolo and its parent media organisation home for the day when it was rammed by the suicide bomber in central Kabul.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said that four people were killed when a vehicle bomb was detonated in the west of Kabul on Wednesday, at around 5 p. m. local time.

Also Thursday, Human Rights Watch said the attack against Tolo TV was an “atrocity created to undermine Afghanistan’s still-fragile media freedom”.

The Afghan outlets had reported allegations that Taliban fighters had committed rapes in the battle for Kunduz, among other abuses.

Eight everyone was murdered Saturday whenever a minibus hit transporting workers of Afghan TV – channel TOLO that is common months following the Taliban announced the community the best “military goal”.

VIENNA, Jan 21, 2016 – The International Press Institute (IPI) joined media organisations around the world today in condemning the Taliban over a suicide auto bomb attack in Afghanistan that took the lives of seven television station personnel.

The statement said they hope to bring the two sides together for talks “aimed at reduction of violence and establishing lasting peace in Afghanistan and the region”.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The Afghan Journalists’ Federation called on the government to investigate the level of security provided for personnel at the threatened television stations, and on the owners to provide greater protection for the staff. The United States conducted airstrikes on Taliban positions, the British rushed special forces advisers to the area, and the Afghan military dropped food and ammunition to soldiers and police who were surrounded in their base.

The Taliban have not formally shown reaction to the process however, with their unofficial websites and online media opposing the process.

The attack was broadly condemned.

There are often threats against individual journalists, but this was a rare targeted attack on a national media group.