The Taliban have killed a relative of a Deutsche Welle journalist, the German international broadcaster said.
In an article published on Thursday, DW said Taliban fighters had been looking for one of their journalists in Afghanistan and confirmed that a relative of the journalist was killed by the Taliban on Wednesday with another person seriously injured. Other relatives were able to escape at the last minute and are fleeing, according to the DW article.
“The killing of such a relative of one of our editors yesterday by the Taliban is inconceivably tragic and testifies to the acute danger in which all our employees and their families find themselves in Afghanistan,” the director general of DW, Peter Limbourg. the article.
“Clearly, the Taliban are already conducting organized searches for journalists, both in Kabul and in the provinces. We are running out of time!” Limburg added.
The article added that the Taliban had searched the home of at least three DW journalists.
DW press spokesman Christoph Jumpelt told CNN in a written statement that “” at this time we are not making individual statements about the tragic event related to the relatives of one of our journalists. “
On Sunday, the day Kabul fell to the Taliban, DW and other major German media outlets urged the German government to help evacuate its Afghan personnel to Germany.
In an open letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, major German newspapers, as well as public and commercial broadcasters, including DW and the DPA news agency, called for a speedy evacuation. of his life-threatening Afghan journalists. They also applied for an emergency visa program to allow their employees to emigrate to Germany.
The signatories of the letter warned that “the lives of this self-employed staff are now in danger.”
” Even life in Kabul has become extremely risky for employees of international media organizations. After the withdrawal of international troops, including German troops, there is a growing concern that the Taliban will take revenge on our employees, ”the letter said.
The letter added that dozens of journalists have been killed in recent years, by the Taliban, the “Islamic State” or by strangers, and the government has almost never identified the perpetrators.
“It is to be feared that these killings will now increase dramatically – and many of our employees are at risk. Employees who want to leave the country are being persecuted, arrested, tortured and killed. Therefore, we ask you to act quickly,” the signatories signed. of the letter.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has described the Taliban’s capture of Afghanistan as “bitter, dramatic and terrible” and stressed the importance of evacuating as many Afghans as possible who have supported German military and civilian efforts in the country.