Abdul Hamid Hotaki, a presenter at Hewad Radio Station in Kandahar, was killed in an explosion near President Ghani’s campaign office in Kandahar on Tuesday evening.
The explosion, which was caused by an IED placed near Ghani’s campaign office, happened at approximately 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the head of Hewad Radio and Television Network, Sediqullah Khaliq.
Khaliq said that Hotaki sustained injuries in the explosion and succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday morning.
Hotaki was on his way to a pick up medicine at a pharmacy in Kandahar city when the explosion happened, local officials said.
He worked at Hewad Radio for the past five years.
Four people were killed in the explosion and seven others were wounded, according to local officials.
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), 2018 was the deadliest year for Afghan journalists since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, with 15 journalists and media workers killed in a series of bombings that began early in the year, nine of them in a single day.
Government data shows that there are 96 TV channels, 65 radio stations and 911 print media agencies in Kabul, as well as 107 TV channels, 284 radio stations, and 416 print media agencies in other provinces.
There are 1,879 active media outlets in Afghanistan, lending credence to the claim that media development is one of the main achievements in Afghanistan over the past 18 years.
