Ex-Afghan TV presenter among 3 killed in Kabul bombing

KABUL, Afghanistan

A former Afghan television presenter and two employees of the country’s central bank were killed in a bombing in the capital Kabul on Saturday.

A bomb was attached to the vehicle carrying Yama Siawash, who used to be a prominent presenter with private TV channel Tolo News, and two employees of Da Afghanistan Bank, according to the Interior Ministry.

Siawash had recently joined the Afghan central bank as an adviser.

The bomb exploded in the capital’s Macroryan area during the morning rush hour, witnesses told Anadolu Agency.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which has been widely condemned by senior officials and citizens.

Terming it a “terrorist attack,” President Ashraf Ghani’s office said authorities have been ordered “to comprehensively probe the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.”

“No one can silence the media by terror & physical elimination of journalists,” Abdullah Abdullah, head of the country’s peace and reconciliation process, said on Twitter.

Ross Wilson, the US charge d’affaires in Afghanistan, called for an end to growing violence in the country.

“This attack is an assault on freedom of the press, one of #Afghanistan’s core democratic principles … We call for a stop to these violent attacks. Afghans need #PeaceForAfghanistan,” he said in a Twitter post.

Another bombing was reported in Afghanistan’s Zabul province on Saturday, injuring at least seven people, including five civilians.

Violence has surged in Afghanistan over recent months, with ongoing peace talks in Qatar between the government and the Taliban having made little headway.

Last week, over 20 students were killed and more than 60 others wounded in an armed assault – claimed by the Daesh/ISIS terror group – on Kabul University.