VOA Special English
2016 Most Dangerous Year Ever for Afghan Journalists

    2016/7/14

    The year 2016 has been the most violent year ever for reporters in Afghanistan, a new report says.

    The Afghan Journalists Safety Committee released its latest report Monday. The group observes the safety situation of reporters in the country.

    Ten members of the media have been killed this year. That is the most in the country’s history.

    The group reports a total of 54 incidents of violence against journalists since January 2016. That is a 38 percent increase compared to the first half of last year.

    Ten year-old Mustafa, son of Afghan reporter Zabihullah Tamanna,(2L), relatives and friends pray around the coffin during a ceremony at a military hospital in Kabul on June 7, 2016.
    Ten year-old Mustafa, son of Afghan reporter Zabihullah Tamanna,(2L), relatives and friends pray around the coffin during a ceremony at a military hospital in Kabul on June 7, 2016.

    The report also says the government was involved with 21 of the violent incidents. It did not, however, provide details about the people involved.

    The report also notes the number of Taliban-linked cases has increased. The Taliban reportedly was responsible for 16 cases of violence against journalists.

    The safety committee's latest report also says that the number of women working in media in Afghanistan has decreased since 2014.

    However, the report calls Afghanistan’s mostly free media and freedom of expression “the greatest achievements of the past 15 years.”

    But, it said Afghan media still faces “serious challenges.”

    This was the seventh report produced by the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee.

    I’m Ashley Thompson.

    Joshua Fatzick wrote this story for VOA News. Jim Dresbach adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson and Caty Weaver were the editors.

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    Words in This Story

    journalistn. a person who collects, writes and edits news stories for newspapers, magazines, television or radio

    missionn. a task or job that someone is given to do

    challenge n. a difficult task or problem : something that is hard to do