Malalai Maiwand, a reporter at Enikas Radio and TV, was killed along with her driver Mohammad Tahir. Gunmen fired on their vehicle in Jalalabad, the capital of the eastern province of Nangarhar. This incident underscores increasing violence against journalists in the country.

Her death took the total number of journalists and media workers killed this year in Afghanistan to 10.

“She was on the way to office when the incident happened,” Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said.

Tariq Arian, an Afghan interior ministry spokesman, said in the last decade and a half, the vast majority of journalists killed had been victims of the Taliban.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied the group’s involvement in the incident.

Maiwand is also not the first of her family to be targeted. Five years ago, her mother, also an activist, was killed by unknown gunmen.

“With the killing of Malalai, the working field for female journalists is getting more smaller and the journalists may not dare to continue their jobs the way they were doing before,” Nai, an organisation supporting media in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

The Afghan government, German embassy, EU delegation and British ambassador condemned growing attacks on journalists and activists.

The Taliban’s hardline rule was marked by oppressive laws for women up until the group was toppled following a 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

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