Three employees of independent broadcaster Enikas were killed by a gunman in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar, the broadcaster’s owner told dpa on Tuesday.

The employees, three women who worked at the dubbing section of Enikas, were buying items from a market in the provincial capital Jalalabad when they were attacked, said Zalmay Latifi.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the incident yet, Latifi said that armed anti-state militants oppose the broadcaster’s activities.

Both the Taliban and Islamic State are active in the province.

This is the latest in a string of attacks against the independent news outlet.

In December, gunmen killed Malala Maiwand, a female news anchor at Enikas, and her driver in Jalalabad.

In 2018, the director of the channel was abducted by gunmen but was later freed.

Also in 2017, several people including a driver working for Enikas were killed in an explosion close to the broadcaster’s offices.

The United Nations’ Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported in February that since 2018, at least 65 media workers and human rights defenders have been killed in targeted attacks throughout Afghanistan.

According to UNAMA, such attacks had increased since the beginning of intra-Afghan peace talks in mid-September 2020, as at least 11 the media employees were killed between October 2020 and January 2021.(dpa/NAN)