A female Afghan lawmaker, Homa Sultani, glorified a gruesome attack carried out against Afghan journalists by the Taliban on her official Facebook account, stating:
“I am thankful to God Almighty that an attack by a devotee killed a number of filthy bastards of the US… May God accept the martyrdom of this devotee and grant him a place in Paradise… and place these filthy, illegitimate creations of the US and other Kuffar (non-Muslims) in the lowest of Hell… Amen”
Homa Sultani openly backed the Taliban attack on a minibus carrying journalists that killed 8 and injured 25. (Photos: left: social media, right: TOLOnews.com
A minibus carrying journalists working for TOLO, a private Afghan television channel, was targeted by a Taliban suicide car bomber four days ago, killing 7 employees and injuring 25 others, including women and children. Three of those killed were women. Television footage showed the black burned-out shell of the vehicle where fire had torn through the roof and windows.
The Taliban had openly threatened the television channel last year after it reported the crimes carried out by the Taliban fighters during the battle for Kunduz.
This is not the first time Sultani has endorsed Taliban and their fundamentalist ideology. In a television appearance after the tragic incident she took the same stand as above, and confirmed that the words were written by her through her Facebook account.
Also, Khaam Press reported in September 2014:
“A female Afghan lawmaker Huma Sultani has said she supports the Taliban ideology and endorses an Islamic State in Afghanistan, similar as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
An audio tape of Huma Sultani which circulated in social media websites shows that she has close links with the Taliban group in Afghanistan.
Sultani is heard talking with an individual – Wahid Hasheimi in Australia where she claims that she was involved in the recent suicide attack on NATO troops convoy in capital Kabul.”
According to Reuters ‘the latest attack adds a dangerous new complication for local journalists working in a country already ranked as low as 122 out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index’.
The incident is the latest in a string of attacks since the peace talks with Taliban were revived earlier this year.
Screenshot of Homa Sultani's post written in Persian. (Photo: official Facebook account of Homa Sultani)
Afghan policemen and fire-fighters inspect the wreckage of a bus that was hit by a suicide bomb attack, in an area near the Russian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan January 20, 2016. The attack was on a bus carrying workers of TOLO news channel. (Omar Sobhani/Reuters)