Mpiga picha Anja Niedringhaus auwawa Afghanistan

Mpiga picha raia wa Ujerumani aliyeuwawa Afghanistan, Anja Niedringhaus

Polisi nchini Afghanistan imesema mwandishi habari wa kike kutoka nchi za Magharibi ameuwawa kwa kupigwa risasi mkoani Khost huku mwengine akijeruhiwa vibaya siku moja kabla ya kufanyika uchaguzi mkuu nchini humo.

Msemaji wa polisi katika mkoa wa Khost,Mobarez Mohammad Zadran aliliambia shirika la habari la AFP kwamba waandishi hao wawili Mpiga picha Anja Niedringhaus na muandishi Kathy Gannon walipigwa risasi leo asubuhi ndani ya makao makuu ya polisi ya wilaya na kwamba mmoja amejeruhiwa vibaya.

Zadran pamoja na naibu mkuu wa polisi wa eneo hilo Yaqub Mandozai wamesema waliofanya shambulizi hilo walikuwa wamevalia sare za polisi.

Huyu ni mwandishi habari wa pili kutoka nchi za Magharibi kuuwawa nchini Afghanistan wakati wa kampeni za uchaguzi baada ya mwandishi mwengine kutoka Sweden; Nils Horner kuuwawa kwa kupigwa risasi mjini Kabul mnamo Machi 11.

Kathy Gannon(kushoto) na Anja Niedringhaus(kulia) kwa msomaji ameuawa Afghanistan.

Mauaji mengine nchini Afghanistan ni ya mwandishi mkuu wa chombo cha habari cha AFP raia wa Afghanistan Sardar Ahmad, Mke wake na watoto wake wawili waliouwawa tarehe 20 mwezi Machi wakati watu waliokuwa na bunduki walipovamia hoteli ya Serena, kuwapiga risasi na kuwauwa watu tisa wakiwemo raia wanne wa kigeni.

Mkoa wa Khost unaopakana na eneo lililo na utata la Kaskazini mwa Waziristan linadhibitiwa na wapiganaji wa Haqqani wanaoshutumia kwa mashambulizi mengi makubwa nchini Afghanistan.

Mtandao wa wapiganaji hao umekuwa ukiwalenga raia wa kigeni. Kabul imetikiswa na mashambulizi makubwa wakati huu uchaguzi mkuu unaotarajiwa kufanyika hapo kesho. Uchaguzi huu ni wa kihistoria kwa kuwa ni wa kwanza utakaobadilisha madaraka kwa njia ya kidemokrasia.

Ulinzi wazidi kuimarishwa Afghanistan siku moja kabla ya uchaguzi

Aidha ulinzi umezidi kuimarishwa nchini Afghanistan kufuatia uchaguzi huo wa urais kumchagua atakayechukua kiti cha uongozi kutoka kwa rais anayeondoka Hamid Karzai, anayebanwa na katiba ya nchi hiyo kugombea tenawadhifa huo.

Kulingana na waziri wa mambo ya ndani nchini humo Omar Daudzai zaidi ya maafisa wa usalama takriban 400,000 wakiwemo polisi, majeshi, na majasusi wamewekwa kote nchini humo kuimarisha ulinzi.

Hata hivyo waasi wa Taliban wameapa kuvuruga uchaguzi huo kwa ghasia na kuwahimiza wapiganaji wao kuwalenga maafisa wa uchaguzi, wapiga kura na maafisa wa usalama.

Licha ya hayo hapo jana rais Hamid Karzai amewahimiza wapiga kura kujitokeza kwa wingi katika uchaguzi wa kesho.

Mchumi na mfanyakazi wa zamani wa benki ya dunia Ashraf Ghani, Abdullah Abdullah aliyejitosa katika uchaguzi wa mwaka wa 2009 pamoja na aliyekuwa waziri wa nchi za kigeni Zalmai Rassoul ni miongoni mwa wagombea 9 wanaowania kukalia kiti cha urais nchini Afghanistan.

Atakayeshinda uchaguzi na kuchukua nafasi ya Karzai atakabiliwa na kipindi kigumu cha kuiweka nchi hiyo dhabiti wakati wanajeshi wa Afghanistan wakipambana na wapiganaji wa Taliban bila ya usaidizi wa wanajeshi wa Jumuiya ya kujihami NATO. Muungano huo unaoongozwa na Marekani unatarajiwa kuondoa wanajeshi wake 53,000 nchini Afghanistan mwishoni mwa mwaka huu.

Mwandishi:Amina Abubakar/AFP

Mhariri: Mohammed Abdul-Rahman

Chanzo: DW Swahili

IN ENGLISH

Foreign journalist killed in east Afghanistan

Associated Press photographer killed and reporter injured in Khost province after Afghan policeman opens fire at them.

Anja Niedringhaus and her colleague were travelling in a convoy protected by Afghan forces.

One foreign photographer has been killed and a reporter wounded in a shooting by an Afghan policeman in the country's east, a day before presidential elections.

Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus, a 48-year-old German national, was killed instantly according to the news agency, while AP reporter Kathy Gannon, a Canadian, was wounded in the attack on Friday.

Associated Press reporter Kathy Gannon, 60, was wounded in the attack [AP]

"Anja and Kathy together have spent years in Afghanistan covering the conflict and the people there. Anja was a vibrant, dynamic journalist well-loved for her insightful photographs, her warm heart and joy for life. We are heartbroken at her loss," said AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll, speaking in New York.

The agency reported that the two were travelling in a convoy of election workers delivering ballots from the centre of Khost city to the outskirts, in Tani district. The convoy was protected by the Afghan National Army and Afghan police. They were in their own car with a freelancer and a driver.

According to the freelancer, they had arrived in the heavily guarded district compound shortly before the incident.

As they were sitting in the car waiting for the convoy to move, a unit commander named Naqibullah walked up to the car, and opened fire on them in the back seat with his AK-47. He then surrendered to the other police and was arrested.

Taliban threats

The attack highlights the poor security in the country ahead of the polls, which the Taliban has vowed to disrupt, threatening to use "all force necessary".

Bullets pierced the car in which Niedringhaus and Gannon were travelling [Reuters]

The shooting comes less than a month after Swedish journalist Nils Horner was killed in broad daylight in Kabul's heavily patrolled diplomatic district.

The Committee to Project Journalists says journalists operating in Afghanistan are under "mounting pressure", with threats and harassment coming from "the government, the military, state security organisations, insurgent groups, and regional and ethnic power brokers seeking a return to power".

Saturday's election will mark the first democratic transfer of power from one president to another - a turning point after 13 years of fighting armed groups that has claimed nearly 3,500 members of a US-led coalition of troops and many thousands more from Afghanistan's security forces.

Pakistan's government has guaranteed to beef up security along its border with Afghanistan in order for the country's elections to run smoothly, as many of the border regions are under the control of Taliban fighters.

Afghanistan's Interior Minister Umer Daudzai said on Thursday that the election will take place in a "secure environment".

Daudzai and other security officials acknowledged that eastern Afghanistan remained one of the most difficult areas to control but insisted government security forces were ready to protect voters nationwide.

He also promised troops would remain neutral amid fears that tribal and other loyalties could create a conflict of interest.

Nearly 200,000 Afghan forces are being deployed to protect voters and polling stations. It will be a key test of their readiness to provide security as international combat troops prepare to withdraw by the end of this year.