Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the assassination of the Afghan journalist Malaleh Myond, describing the operation as a war crime, and directed the competent institution to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Aryan implicitly accused the Taliban of assassinating her, noting that the vast majority of journalists in Afghanistan were killed by the movement, and said that the operation is a continuation of terrorist acts against freedom of expression.
The European Union office and the British and Dutch embassies in Afghanistan condemned the assassination of the journalist and her driver this morning, and called on the Afghan government to investigate the assassination and hold the killers accountable.
Malaleh Mayond was assassinated in the city of Jalalabad in the east of the country, according to what was reported by the private "Inflection" radio and television, in which she was working.
Attacks targeting public figures including journalists, politicians, clerics and human rights defenders have increased in recent months, despite the ongoing peace negotiations in Doha.
The spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial governor, Atallah Khogyani, and the local hospital confirmed the killing, along with her driver.
Nangarhar province, with its capital, Jalalabad, is witnessing frequent clashes between government forces and the Taliban, and ISIS has also claimed responsibility for numerous bloody attacks in the state.
The killing of Mayund, who was in her twenties, comes just weeks after the killing of journalist Elias Dayi, who was working for Radio Freedom, in a car bomb attack in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan.
Human Rights Watch reported that Daye received a threat from the Taliban, which criticized him for covering their operations.
And in early November, former TV presenter Yama Siyawash and two other civilians were killed by an explosive device attached to his car near his home in the capital, Kabul.
According to Reporters Without Borders, Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous regions for journalists.
At least 10 journalists and media workers were killed in Afghanistan in 2019.