In a bombing attack in the western province of Farah, Afghanistan, a journalist who had been getting death threats was seriously wounded. The Taliban stormed an army checkpoint and killed 10 soldiers, officials said Wednesday.
Also a local official was gunned down outside the journalist's home on Wednesday.
Even as the Taliban and the US concluded another round of talks, attacks in war-torn country do not seem to cease. The nearly two weeks of talks in Qatar produced two draft agreements between the Taliban and the US government on a "withdrawal timeline and effective counterterrorism measures," American envoy Zalmay Khalilzad wrote on Twitter.
The Taliban also issued a statement, saying "progress was achieved" on both of those issues. The Taliban however, have consistently refused to talk with the government in Kabul, describing it as a US puppet.
Radio and TV journalist Nesar Ahmad Ahmadi was wounded when a sticky bomb attached to his car exploded as he was heading to work in Helmand province.
Omar Zwak, the governor's spokesman, said the attack happened on Tuesday in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital. Ahmadi, who runs the Sabahoon radio station wounded his leg and was transferred to Kabul for further treatment. He is also a reporter for Sabahoon TV in Helmand.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Helmand, the Taliban heartland.
This is not the first time that journalists are targetted by the Taliban. In January, according to the Afghan Journalist Safety Committee's annual report, 121 cases of violence against journalists and media workers took place in 2018.
The report also said 17 journalists and media workers were killed last year, once again placing Afghanistan as the world's most dangerous country for journalists.
The International Federation of Journalists and its Afghan affiliate condemned the attack on Ahmadi and called for an immediate investigation.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack that killed 10 soldiers in Farah.
On the same day, Mohammad Salim Farahi was shot and killed near his home in the provincial capital, Farah city.
He was an engineer and the head of the public works department, said Salehi.
