Published on 12-Dec-2020
Khushboo Razdan
Afghanistan's Enikass TV anchor Malalai Maiwand during a news show. /Reuters
"A brave, top-notch journalist with open eyes," that's how Aziz Tassal, director of the Kabul Press Club, described 26-year-old Malalai Maiwand. She was shot dead by ISIL gunmen on her way to work in Jalalabad, Afghanistan on Thursday.
"It would be hard to find a new Malalai. She gave confidence to other women. She leaves behind a great memory," Tassal told CGTN Digital, adding "I met her just 16 days back in Kandahar where she was training junior journalists."
According to Tassal, Malalai rose to prominence three years ago after delivering a fiery speech in front of the president on rising corruption in her native Nangarhar province.
"She told the president 'you are surrounded by corrupt people'," he said.
President Ashraf Ghani's spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi called her killing "shocking and utterly despicable."
"It is a cowardly and heinous act. The AFG Government strongly condemns it and conveys message of condolence and sympathy to her family and friends. The current senseless violence against our people must end," he wrote on Twitter.