Press Releases

Gunmen Attack Community Radio Station in Logar Province

Fourth Attack on Internews-Affiliated Station in Afghanistan

Noah Miller/Internews Afghanistan This radio station facility in Logar province is one of 32 independent stations established and supported by Internews Afghanistan.

(October 1, 2007) Gunmen firing rocket-propelled grenades attacked a community radio station in the Logar province of Afghanistan last week, seriously injuring a guard and temporarily knocking the station off the air. There was an RPG attack on another radio station in Logar province at roughly the same time; both stations were built by Internews Network and were locally owned and operated.

Shortly after midnight on Monday, Sept. 24, a group of unknown gunmen attacked Milli Paygham (National Message) radio station in the Mohammad Agha district of Logar province in Afghanistan, about 50 kilometers outside Kabul.  

Using small arms, the gunmen apparently intended to overtake the station, which is located next to a government security post, but faced tough resistance by the two night guards, according to interviews of the station manager and the Logar crime chief conducted by Masood Farivar of Internews Afghanistan. 

During the ensuing gunfight, at least one, and possibly two, rounds of rocket-propelled grenades were fired at the station. Shrapnel from the RPG round tore a transmitter cable and badly injured one of the guards, who was airlifted out for treatment.  

Qazi Mudassir, the station manager, blamed the attack on “anti-government” forces with “larger plans.’’  Later, he told Salam Watandar, a national news radio network produced by Internews out of Kabul, that the Taliban had repeatedly warned the station not to air government propaganda, although they had not specifically threatened to attack the station.

Mudassir maintained that the station is non-partisan and airs only impartial and objective news. Milli Paygham was built by Internews in October 2003 under a grant from the US Agency for International Development, one of 32 community radio stations Internews has established in Afghanistan to date.

Qudratullah Arabzai, crime chief of Logar, said he had no doubt that the attackers were Taliban members and that their intended target was the radio station.  He reported that the attackers had fired two RPG rounds, both of which landed near the station studio.  

By all accounts, the station was fortunate to suffer only minimal damage. An Internews technical team went to the station to repair the damaged transmitter cable and the station was able to resume broadcasts on Tuesday. 

At approximately the same time as the attack on Milli Paygham, there was an RPG attack near another Internews partner station in Logar province. During the attack near Radio Istiqlal (Independence) in Baraki Barak, a rocket landed next to a security post, but the station was spared. It was not clear whether the station was the target or if the two attacks were connected. 

The attack on Milli Paygham was the fourth attack on an Internews-affiliated radio station in Afghanistan. Radio Istiqlal, which was established in April 2004, was torched last August. Internews helped the station to temporarily relocate to the provincial capital of Pul-I Alam; it has since returned to its former location in Baraki Barak.

In early August, Radio Yawali Ghag in Wardak was burned down, reportedly by the Taliban. 

A month later, Radio Haqiqat (Truth) was torched in Samangan.  The station had received threats, mostly from local information and cultural authorities. 

Since 2002, as part of its work supporting independent media worldwide, Internews has set up 28 independent radio stations owned and operated by Afghan organizations; provided equipment and training to local journalists; produced independent radio content with local journalists; and established a satellite distribution system for radio programming that reaches a majority of the population. A training center set up in collaboration with Nai, a local Afghan media development NGO and a member of Internews International, offers training in a variety of subjects to media professionals from around the country.