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Western Journalist Is Killed in Afghanistan Western Journalist Is Killed in Afghanistan
(about 5 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — A pair of gunmen shot a Swedish journalist on a crowded street in Kabul on Tuesday, in a rare assassination-style killing of a foreigner, thousands of whom have lived openly in the capital for more than a decade. KABUL, Afghanistan — Two men shot a Swedish reporter on a crowded street in Kabul on Tuesday, in a rare assassination-style killing of a Westerner that raised fresh questions about the safety of the large international presence expected to remain here after American-led combat forces depart this year.
The journalist was outside a restaurant talking to security guards about an article he was working on when a pair of men in what was described as traditional clothing walked up, said Col. Najibullah Samsour, a senior police official. At least one of the men drew a pistol and fired a single shot into the journalist’s face. The men then fled. The reporter, Nils Horner, 51, a longtime foreign correspondent for Swedish Radio, was shot two blocks from the wreckage of a restaurant where suicide attackers killed 21 people, most of them foreigners, in January. Col. Najibullah Samsour, a senior police official, said that Mr. Horner was standing outside another restaurant talking to security guards when a pair of men in what was described as traditional clothing walked up.
The man was identified by the Swedish Embassy as Nils Horner, 51, a journalist for Swedish Radio who had both British and Swedish nationalities. One of the men then drew a pistol and fired a single shot into the journalist’s face, Colonel Samsour said. The men fled, and no arrests had been made by day’s end. A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, denied that the group was involved, and there was no other claim of responsibility reported.
The attack was the first time in years that a Westerner appeared to have been specifically targeted and killed in Kabul. The journalist’s death sent a fresh wave of concern through the sizable community of diplomats, journalists, aid workers and others who live and work in the Afghan capital. Another Afghan security official said the killer’s pistol was fitted with a silencer.
The city once had a thriving, albeit limited, expatriate social scene. There were a handful of restaurants and bars that catered almost exclusively to foreigners – Afghans are legally barred from drinking – and regular parties at the lightly guarded homes in which many Westerners here live. The daylight attack was the first time in years that a Westerner appeared to have been specifically targeted and killed in Kabul. It took place in one of Kabul’s most heavily guarded neighborhoods, amid an especially heavy security presence for the funeral of the country’s powerful first vice president, Muhammad Qasim Fahim.
But the deteriorating security situation in many rural areas of Afghanistan and a number of high-profile attacks on Afghan officials, Western embassies and coalition forces in Kabul in recent years has forced many foreigners, especially diplomats, to live under tighter security restrictions. Mr. Fahim, who died of a heart attack Sunday, rose to prominence fighting the Taliban in the 1990s. He had endured a number of assassination attempts in recent years, and even in death he was believed to remain an appealing target for insurgents. His funeral attracted dignitaries from across Afghanistan and abroad, and tens of thousands of Mr. Fahim’s supporters — nearly all of whom would, by extension, tend to be fiercely anti-Taliban — turned out to see his body interred.
In January, Taliban suicide attackers struck a Lebanese restaurant, Taverna du Liban, that had been a mainstay of Kabul’s expatriate social scene. Of the 21 people killed, 13 were foreigners. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, and said for the first time that they had specifically sought to kill Western civilians. The actual funeral service for Mr. Fahim was held inside the Presidential Palace in Kabul, where President Hamid Karzai gathered with hundreds of other political and military leaders and other dignitaries.
Since the attack on Taverna du Liban, other restaurants that are popular with foreigners have seen their business plummet. Many Westerners who had freely traveled around the city have either chosen to scale back their socializing or have been forced to do so by security restrictions put in place by the organizations for which they work. The public burial took place later in the day on a hilltop. The police tried to limit attendance but gave up as wave after wave of Mr. Fahim’s supporters walked to the hill. After Mr. Fahim’s body arrived in a white ambulance, thousands of people rushed the grave site, and the men carrying the coffin nearly dropped it before they could put in the grave.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting Tuesday. It was not clear whether the gunmen were specifically targeting the journalist who was killed, whether they mistook him for someone else or if they were simply looking for a foreigner to shoot and spotted him. In one indication of the current mood here, the crowd broke into numerous chants after the burial, decrying the Taliban and the West with equal vehemence. “Down with America,” “down with English,” “down with the West,” and “down with the Taliban,” they shouted.
Colonel Samsour, the police official, said the journalist had arrived in Kabul only a few days earlier and was staying at a guesthouse. He was apparently working on a story about the attack on Taverna du Liban when he was shot. Even before the funeral and the attack on Mr. Horner, growing anti-Western sentiment among Afghans had become increasingly apparent on the streets of Kabul. The hard stares directed at Westerners have grown more common, and the questioning by the police at checkpoints more aggressive.
According to witnesses, the journalist was standing outside another Lebanese restaurant, Beirut, and was asking security guards there about a chef who survived the attack on Taverna du Liban. At least some of the resentment has grown from years of seeing Westerners behave in ways deeply out of sync with Afghan life. Kabul once had a thriving, albeit limited, expatriate social scene. There were a handful of restaurants and bars that catered almost exclusively to foreigners — Afghans are legally barred from drinking — and regular parties at the lightly guarded homes in which many Westerners here live.
“When I came out of the restaurant, he was lying on the street. The Afghan translator and his driver were trying to help him and get him in the car,” said an employee of Beirut, who asked not to be identified because he was afraid the gunmen would return. But the deteriorating security situation in many rural areas of Afghanistan and a number of high-profile attacks on Afghan officials, Western embassies and coalition forces in Kabul in recent years had, by the start of this year, forced many foreigners, especially diplomats, to live under tighter security restrictions.
“Police arrived minutes after the shooting and took him to the hospital,” the restaurant worker said. “The attackers had pistols and fled after the attack.” Then in January, Taliban fighters struck at a Lebanese restaurant, Taverna du Liban, that had been a mainstay of Kabul’s expatriate social scene. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, and said for the first time that they had specifically sought to kill Western civilians.
Taverna du Liban, which has not reopened since it was attacked in January, is around the corner from where the shooting Tuesday took place. Since the attack on Taverna du Liban, other restaurants that are popular with foreigners have seen their business plummet. The potential for violence during the coming presidential elections has also put many international organizations on a more vigilant security footing, and many Westerners who had freely traveled around the city have either chosen to scale back their movements or have been forced to do so by security restrictions put in place by their employers.
The neighborhood, Wazir Akbar Khan, is among Kabul’s most expensive, and it is thick with foreigners. Three major news organizations have offices in the same general area. Why Mr. Horner, a dual British and Swedish national, might have been targeted was a mystery to his colleagues and security officials. Swedish Radio told The Associated Press that neither Mr. Horner nor the organization had been threatened, and that Mr. Horner visited Kabul only a few times a year.
The few previous fatal attacks on individual foreigners that have occurred in Kabul have targeted longer-term residents. In October 2008, a Briton and a South African working for the international courier company DHL were shot and killed by a disgruntled security guard. Earlier that same week, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the shooting of an aid worker who they said was trying to convert Afghans to Christianity. He arrived in Kabul on Sunday and was staying at a guesthouse, according to the Swedish Embassy, and neither his employer nor Afghan officials said they knew of any personal disputes that could have led to his killing.
According to witnesses, the journalist was standing outside another Lebanese restaurant, Beirut, and was asking security guards there about a chef who survived the attack on Taverna du Liban, just around the corner. Mr. Horner was apparently trying to track him down.
Employees then heard a gunshot.
“When I came out of the restaurant, he was lying on the street. The Afghan interpreter and his driver were trying to help him and get him in the car,” said an employee of Beirut, who asked not to be identified because he was afraid the gunmen would return.
“The police arrived minutes after the shooting and took him to the hospital,” he said.
The neighborhood where the attack happened, Wazir Akbar Khan, is among Kabul’s most expensive, and it is thick with foreigners. Five major news organizations have offices in the same general area.
The few previous fatal attacks on individual foreigners in Kabul have targeted longer-term residents. In October 2008, a Briton and a South African working for the international courier company DHL were shot and killed by a disgruntled security guard. Earlier that same week, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the shooting of an aid worker who they said had been trying to convert Afghans to Christianity.
An official from an international development organization said discussions about how large an expatriate staff could safely work in Afghanistan beyond this year had already been intensifying among his colleagues before Mr. Horner’s death.
Now, “our rethink is going to get that much harder. It’s urgent,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid alienating his Afghan employees.