Ahmad Sardar

Ahmad Sardar was a prominent Afghan journalist.[1] He, along with nearly his entire family, was killed by Taliban gunmen in March 2014. He was 40 years old.[2][3]

Career

Sardar began his career as a journalist in 2001 with the fall of the Taliban, when he started working as a translator for Japanese journalists. He was hired by Agence France-Press in 2003 to cover the daily briefings by the US-led coalition at Bagram airbase,[4] and became well known in the Afghan media world, and had quickly worked his way up to senior correspondent for AFP at the time of his death.[5][6] He also headed a successful media firm, Pressistan, which he founded in 2009 to support visiting foreign correspondents and to train local journalists.[7][8][9][10] Interviewed in 2012, Sardar said of his job: "I don't think the experiences of a journalist in a country like Afghanistan and a city like Kabul are that pleasant. For example, suicide attacks: we have to go to the scene and look at something very tragic, we have no choice."[11]

Death

On the evening of March 20, 2014, as Taliban violence was escalating in the run up to the April national elections,[12] Ahmad and his family were having dinner at the Serena Hotel in Kabul.[13] Four Taliban gunmen sneaked weapons into the hotel before going to its restaurant and opening fire; they killed nine people. Four of the dead were Ahmad; his wife Humaira; his daughter, Nelofar (aged 6); and his eldest son, Omar (5).[8] The youngest son, two-year-old Abuzar, was hit with multiple rounds and went into a coma, but survived the attack.[14][15] According to Afghan officials, the Sardar's family were not the deliberate target of the attack.[16] One of the attackers was believed killed by one of the hotel's armed guards;[17] the rest were killed by Afghan special forces.[18] Surviving son Abuzar may go to Canada to live with an uncle.[19] While they claimed responsibility for the attack, after realising who had been killed, the Taliban insisted the murders of Sardar and his family had been unintentional, a result of crossfire, even going so far as to issue a rare apology for the deaths of the children.[8]

Sardar's death was mourned by an eclectic mix of Afghans and foreigners, from President Hamid Karzai,[20] who visited his surviving son in hospital,[21] to former warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum.[11][22] Many Afghan journalists said they would boycott every Taliban statement and every Taliban-related story for two weeks in protest.[17] Ahmad was described by his bureau chief as "[c]lever, informed, stylish and bubbling with boyish enthusiasm, […] a five-star journalist, a friend to all at AFP—and a man who impressed every single person he ever met."[6] Mujib Mashal of Harper's Magazine, who met Sardar a month before his death to discuss setting up a magazine, praised his sheer endurance, "something increasingly rare in his generation of Afghan reporters, many of whom have moved on to new careers, exhausted by more than a decade of conflict."[7] Fellow Afghan journalist Harun Najafizada noted that Sardar had had any number of opportunities to leave Afghanistan, but had always opted to stay.[16] The UN Security Council condemned the attack,[23] with International Federation of Journalists describing Sardar's murder as a "horrifying killing",[24] while Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, said Ahmad's loss would be felt "keenly".[25] The American Embassy in Kabul rearranged a press conference so as not to clash with a vigil taking place the Wednesday after his death.[8] His Pressistan Twitter account, which Sardar was always active on, was taken over by his friends to continue as a source of news and views in Afghanistan.

References

  1. ↑ Peterson, Scott (29 March 2014). "Taliban strike Afghan election HQ in relentless bid to disrupt key vote". csmonitor.com. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  2. ↑ "Sardar Ahmad, charming and versatile AFP journalist". Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Colleagues Remember Journalist Murdered in Kabul". Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  4. ↑ AFP (21 March 2014). "AFP reporter Sardar Ahmad killed in Kabul hotel attack". New Straits Times. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  5. ↑ Campbell, Charlie (21 March 2014). "AFP Reporter Sardar Ahmad Killed in Kabul". time.com. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  6. 1 2 Sheppard, Ben (22 March 2014). "Remembering Sardar Ahmad". blogs.afp.com. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  7. 1 2 Mashal, Mujib (27 March 2014). "Death at the Serena". The Stream (harpers.org). Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Nordland, Rod; Zahori, Habib (26 March 2014). "Killing of Afghan Journalist and Family Members Stuns Media Peers". nytimes.com. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Coren, Ann (24 March 2014). "'It wasn't his time': Afghan journalist, family slain at hotel mourned". CNN. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "Human Rights Watch open letter to Afghan journalist Sardar Ahmad's family, friends, and colleagues". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  11. 1 2 Graham-Harrison, Emma (21 March 2014). "Sardar Ahmad: a courageous journalist who delivered exceptional coverage". theguardian.com. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  12. ↑ "Afghan journalist among those dead in Kabul attack". Committee to Protect Journalists. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  13. ↑ Campbell, Charlie (21 March 2014). "AFP Reporter Sardar Ahmad Killed in Kabul". Time. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  14. ↑ "Remembering Afghan journalist Sardar Ahmad". Channel 4 News. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  15. ↑ "AFP reporter Sardar Ahmad killed in Kabul hotel attack". Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  16. 1 2 Najafizada, Harun (27 March 2014). "Afghan notebook: A voice silenced". BBC News. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  17. 1 2 Rosenberg, Matthew; Ahmed, Azam (21 March 2014). "Illusion of Safety at Afghan Haven Is Shattered". nytimes.com. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  18. ↑ "Nine killed in Kabul hotel gun attack". BBC News. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  19. ↑ Donati, Jessica (28 March 2014). "Doctors treating toddler shot by Taliban fear rise in Afghan violence". Reuters. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  20. ↑ "President Karzai's Condolence Message on the Loss of Afghan Journalist". president.gov.af. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  21. ↑ "President Karzai Visits Sardar Ahmad's Son Who was Injured in Serena Terrorist Attack". president.gov.af. 29 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  22. ↑ Associated Press (24 March 2014). "Toddler, 2, emerges from coma after five gunshots — the only survivor of Kabul hotel attack that killed his family". National Post. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  23. ↑ "Security Council Press Statement on Terrorist Attack in Afghanistan". un.org. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  24. ↑ "CPJ warns of increased safety risk for Afghanistan reporters after AFP journalist killed". Press Gazette. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  25. ↑ "UNESCO chief pays tribute to Afghan journalist killed in hotel attack". UN News Center. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 29, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.