KABUL: In a meeting with the Afghan media community, the US envoy to Afghanistan has stressed press freedom in Afghanistan as one of the most significant gains over the past 19 years. 

In the wake of a recent spike in targeted attacks on media persons and activists across the country, the US Chargé d’Affaires to Kabul Ross Wilson met media represetnatives on Tuesday. 

Lamenting that respected voices had been silenced in Afghan media, Wilson wrote on his Twitter handle, “ we wanted to discuss strategies for security & for assisting reporters who are at risk right now.”

“I have said it before: we must preserve #PressFreedom in Afghanistan as one of the most important gains of the past 19 years. Media workers here demonstrate remarkable courage in ensuring transparency & accountability. We hear you & we support you.”

This comes as journalists and activists have become high-value targets recently. The latest such incident in the assassination spree was of Rahmatullah Nikzad, who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Ghazni, three times in the chest as he was leaving his home.