Gunmen storm TV station in Kabul

by Dramelin 8:00 AM 0 comments

Gunmen disguised as police officers have attacked a television station in the Afghan capital Kabul, with at least two people reported killed.
The attackers lobbed grenades before storming the Shamshad TV building.
Afghan security forces have ended the raid and the television station has resumed broadcasting.
So-called Islamic State (IS) said it had carried out the attack.
Kabul has been targeted repeatedly in recent months by the Taliban and IS.
`Attack on freedom` A security guard has been confirmed killed and 20 people are being treated in hospital.
The mother of a female journalist at the station told the BBC she had received no news of her daughter, hours after the attack.
Other Shamshad TV staff members escaped through a neighbouring building.
"This is an attack on freedom of media but they cannot silence us," the station`s news director Abid Ehsas told another outlet, Tolo News.
Special forces had to blast their way through a concrete wall protecting the station to enter the site.
Shamshad TV broadcasts a wide variety of programmes including news and current affairs in the Pashto language.
It is one of the BBC`s partner stations.
The threat to journalists Afghanistan is one of the world`s most dangerous countries for journalists and media workers.
The first six months of 2017 saw a surge in violence against journalists, with local monitor the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee recording 73 cases, an increase of 35% in comparison to the same period in 2016.