Targeting journalists ‘unforgivable,’ UN says after death of BBC Afghan reporter

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has expressed its sadness at the killing of an Afghan reporter working for the BBC in the country’s southern Helmand province, stressing it is “unforgivable” that journalists should be targeted for simply doing their jobs.

Abdul Samad Rohani was the Pashto service reporter for the BBC World Service in Helmand. He was reportedly abducted on Saturday and his body was found the next day in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.

“Afghan journalists risk their lives everyday to highlight the concerns and needs of ordinary Afghan people and it is unforgivable that such selfless individuals are being targeted for no other reason than doing their job,” UNAMA’s Nazifullah Salarzai told reporters in Kabul today.

“We urge the Afghan authorities to leave no stone unturned in search of those responsible for this callous murder,” he added.

Mr. Rohani was one of two BBC journalists killed over the weekend. Nasteh Dahir, who worked for the BBC and the Associated Press, was gunned down in Kismayo, Somalia, on Saturday.