AFGHANISTAN. Ghor: Unknown gunmen stormed the house of Bismillah Adil, killing his three family members and wounding five others in the western province of Ghor on Thursday night.
The house belongs to Bismillah Adil, a journalist, activist, and former head of Radio Sada-e-Ghor, who was killed in an attack by unknown armed men on the first day of 2021. Bismillah was assassinated in a targeted killing in Ghor province of Afghanistan on January 1, 2021.
Local reporters said that Lala Gul, Adil’s brother reported that Adil’s brother, cousin, and his 13-year-old nephew have lost their lives in the attack. Different narratives of the incident have created confusion in the investigation.
According to local sources, the five others who were wounded were also the family members of Bismillah Adil.
No involvement of Taliban
Adil’s brother, Lala Gul, has claimed that the attack has been conducted by the Taliban. Radio Free Liberty also claimed the Taliban carried the attack on Bismillah’s house. However, Qari Ahmad Yusuf, a Taliban spokesman has rejected the group’s involvement in the incident.
Meanwhile, no group has officially claimed responsibility for the attack. Local officials in Ghor said that a team has been assigned to probe the incident. Reports indicate that protests have been launched in Ghor over the incident.
Deputy Security Chief of Ghor, Nik-Mohammad Nikzad said, Adil’s brother and two of his nephews were killed and five wounded. The official said that the family was ambushed by the Taliban while carrying the wounded people to a hospital which left a 12-year-old girl and his 25-year-old nephew dead.
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National security findings
The Afghanistan National Security Department has named Azizullah Beg and Abdul Raman Atsh, members of the Ghor provincial council to be behind the attack. They also added that Beg was killed in the clashes with the national security forces when they were trying to arrest him.
Ayatullah, Adil’s brother told journalists that the Taliban had attacked their house.
Wahid Ahmadi(anonymous), a journalist from Ghor told Transcontinental Times that unknown armed men attacked the house and they were guys of Beg and not the Taliban, adding that the gunmen didn’t even let the injured people reach the hospital. He further added that the men even burned the house after the attack.
The wave of targeted killings
The campaign targeted which began in November 2020, killed high-profile figures including activists, judges, doctors, Journalists, religious scholars, and academic people.
On Wednesday, Maqbool Noori, a journalist who was reporting on the ‘land grabbing case’ came under attack and threatened to death by armed men associated with the head of the dispute resolution and tribal affairs directorate in Kapisa province.
Journalists have said that such incidents challenge access to information and that they sometimes happen in the central zone.
The Afghan Journalists Committee of Safety condemned the murder of Bismillah Adil’s family members and asked for a probe into the incident, requesting the security forces to protect the remaining members of his family. “The incidents harmed the abilities of journalists,” the committee said.
