By Javed Hamim Kakar
A journalist was beaten and others were threatened by police after they attempted to cover the scene of a rocket attack that left eight civilians injured in the capital of southern Ghazni province on Tuesday.
Pajhwok reporter Saifullah Maftoon and other journalists were barred from entering the hospital where the injured civilians had been taken.
A cameraman with Rana Production in Ghazni, Mohammad Kamran Alokozai, told Pajhwok Afghan News police hit him when he was taking photos of the wounded people in hospital.
Maftoon also claimed he and other colleagues were insulted and threatened by police. “They told us you are puppets and want photographs for the Taliban.”
Soon after the incident, the reporters phoned the deputy police chief, Asadullah Insafi, to inform him about their harassment. He snapped the conversation by saying “police haven’t done well”.
Sanayee weekly journalist Ghausuddin and AFP reporter Rahmatullah Alizada acknowledged they were threatened by both police and the governor’s office.
Alizada said: “The governor’s spokesman called me over the phone and used bad words after I posted on my Facebook wall the scene of a rocket that landed near the governor’s office.”
Journalist’s union head in Ghazni, Asadullah Jalalzai, denounced the police highhandedness, urging local authorities to take notice of the issue.
He said if police were considered to be in the service of people, the journalists were also serving the country and the masses.