Daily Times

Journalists regularly put themselves in the line of fire when they choose to report on conflict. Their passion to inform the world sometimes has tragic consequences and in no case more so than the vicious attack on two female foreign journalists in Afghanistan on Friday. Kathy Gannon and Anja Niederinghaus, two reporters with 30 years experience covering Afghanistan, were attacked in the eastern Afghan province of Khost bordering Pakistan by a police unit-commander designated to organise security for their visit. The commander reportedly approached the car with the two women in the back seat, shouted a religious invocation, and opened fire on the car with an assault rifle. After emptying the clip he put down his weapon and surrendered to the other stunned police officers. Ms Gannon, who is something of a news legend in the region, was shot twice and is badly injured while Ms Niederinghaus, a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer, was killed on the spot. Attacking unarmed women is a Taliban hallmark and more than anything shows them as nothing more than bloodthirsty bullies, who are cowards when pressed and need not be feared.
The pattern of attacking soft targets and making brutal examples of foreigners in Afghanistan clearly show the Taliban are worried about the elections and the legitimacy it may provide to the Kabul government at home and internationally. Ms Gannon and her companion were in Khost reporting on Afghan election preparations that the world is taking keen interest in. A Swedish correspondent was killed last month while reporting on the same. The chief Afghan correspondent of a global news wire service was one of the casualties in an attack on the Kabul Serena hotel last month, which left nine people dead including several foreign election observers. Last week also saw an attack on a guesthouse of a foreign aid agency, aside from numerous other attacks since the beginning of the year. A flawed election would not only damage the new government at home but would be cause for foreign aid donors to limit the funding Kabul relies on to maintain the delicate political balance in Afghanistan. The latest attack is also cause for concern because the culprit was a member of the police services. There are routine reports of Afghan army and police personnel turning on and attacking US and NATO troops. Some of them are believed to be Taliban infiltrators while others are simply labelled ‘sympathisers’. Either way, their presence is a significant security concern for whoever now assumes power in Afghanistan. As Friday’s attack shows, a process of vetting, particularly high level security officials, needs to be undertaken immediately. The death of Ms Niederinghaus is a tragedy that should not be allowed to pass in vain and the Afghan elections she gave her life to report on must now present Afghanistan with a legitimate, democratic future. *