Taliban fighters on Friday killed the Afghanistan government’s top media and information officer in the capital Kabul as insurgents have intensified offensive amid the withdrawal US-led foreign troops.
The Afghan interior ministry confirming the incident said that Dawa Khan Menapal, head of the Government Media and Information Centre (GMIC), was assassinated during Friday prayers.
“He (Menapal) was a young man who stood like a mountain in the face of enemy propaganda, and who was always a major supporter of the (Afghan) regime,” Reuters quoted an Afghan official as saying I its report.
Read more: https://pakobserver.net/taliban-tell-president-ghani-his-time-is-up/
Taliban has claimed responsibility of the attack. A spokesperson of the group said that Menapal was killed in an attack by fighters, adding that he was punished for his actions.
The killing of the top Afghan official was the latest in a series carried out by the Taliban to weaken President Ashraf Ghani’s government.
In a tweet, U.S. Charge d’Affaires Ross Wilson condemned the killing of Menapal.
“We are saddened & disgusted by the Taliban’s targeted killing of Dawa Khan Meenapal, a friend and colleague, whose career was focused on providing truthful information to all Afghans about #Afghanistan. These murders are an affront to Afghans’ human rights & freedom of speech,” he wrote on social media.
We are saddened & disgusted by the Taliban’s targeted killing of Dawa Khan Meenapal, a friend and colleague, whose career was focused on providing truthful information to all Afghans about #Afghanistan. These murders are an affront to Afghans’ human rights & freedom of speech.
— Chargé d’Affaires Karen Decker (@USAmbKabul) August 6, 2021
The attack comes two days after Taliban fighters made an attempt to target acting Defence Minister Bismillah Mohammadi, who remained safe in the attack.
