Afghan journalist shot dead a day after Taliban warning

A day after the Taliban issued a threat against the media persons, a high-profile television journalist was shot dead in Afghanistan's Kandahar city on Thursday.

Nemat Rawan, a former anchor of the country's leading broadcaster and a media official at the Ministry of Finance, was killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen in Kandahar, TOLO news reported.

Ghorzang Afridi, a security official at the Kandahar police HQ said that attackers shot and killed Rawan in his Toyota Corolla in Kandahar city. "The first one of the attackers stopped his car and the second one came on a motorbike and shot him," he said. "The attackers have also stolen his phone."

This comes a day after the Taliban have issued a threat to Afghan media outlets and have accused them of siding with Afghanistan's intelligence agency, saying "media must be aware" to maintain their neutrality and avoid becoming the Kabul administration's propaganda tool.

On Wednesday, Taliban spokesperson Zabullah Mujahid had said the Kabul administration's National Directorate of Security is directly involved in activities to distort public views, Khamma Press reported.

He said that "media must be aware" to maintain their neutrality, and that in such a sensitive situation media should avoid becoming the Kabul administration's propaganda tool.

Taliban threats came as the United States have begun drawdown of its troops in Afghanistan and violence have escalated in the country.

Taliban have launched a new wave of offensive in several Afghan cities and are resorting to bombings and heavy weapons after the United States missed May 1 deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

( With inputs from ANI )