Journalist taken hostage by Taliban in Helmand province

Niamatullah Hemat, editor-in-chief of the local Boost radio station and reporter of Gharghakht TV channel based in Khost province, has been taken hostage by Taliban fighters in Nawa district of Helmand province.

As per media reports, provincial in charge of Nai (Open Media Advocate in Afghanistan), Abul Sami Ghairatmal said that Hemat was taken out of his home in Nawa district on Monday.

Ghairatmal has asked the Taliban to abide by the promise made with media outlets in Afghanistan and release the journalist as soon as possible.

The Taliban are now controlling all the districts of Helmand province and have been fighting the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces in the provincial capital, Lashkargah.

Meanwhile, Toofan Omari, editor-in-chief of Paktia Ghag radio station based in Paktia province, has also been murdered in Deh Sabz district of Kabul on Sunday.

No group has taken the responsibility for the murder yet.

A former reporter, Omari was also an attorney in the Judicial and justice center in the Bagram district of Kabul, reports said.

The killing and abduction of the two journalists come three days after the head of the Government Media and Information Center (GMIC), Dawakhan Minapal, was assassinated by the Taliban in Kabul city.