ISIS claims killing of 3 women media workers in Afghanistan

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Three women who worked for a local radio and TV station in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province were gunned down Tuesday in the latest surge in violence in the war-torn nation. The murders, in one of the most dangerous countries for media workers in the world, were claimed by the terrorist group ISIS.

Dozens of people gathered Wednesday for the funerals of the three media workers. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the murders, calling the assaults “contrary to the teachings of Islam, Afghan culture and the spirit of peace.”

Officials say all three women, Mursal Hakimi, 25, Sadia, 20, and Shanaz, 20 — many Afghans have a single name — worked on voice-overs for foreign programs, and were killed in separate incidents. It was not the first time women working at the Enikass Radio and TV station in Jalalabad have been targeted by militants. Afghan police arrested Qari Baser as the alleged killer of all three, and Afghan authorities insisted he was a member of the Taliban — a claim contradicted by the Taliban and ISIS.

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Myanmar’s deadly crackdown on demonstrators protesting a military coup continued Wednesday, ending with at least eight people shot and killed by security forces. Military leaders took control in the Southeast Asian country on Feb. 1, ousting elected officials. Since then, protesters have been on the streets regularly across the country but have increasingly been met with violence with security authorities using lethal force, tear gas and arresting demonstrators.

Also, French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged on Wednesday prominent Algerian nationalist Ali Boumendjel was murdered and tortured by French army authorities more than 60 years ago. The 37-year-old lawyer and activist, detained during the Battle of Algiers, was placed in solitary confinement and tortured and this was covered up as a suicide, according to an admission from Macron. “[He] did not commit suicide. He was tortured and then killed,” Macron said in a meeting with Boumendjel’s grandchildren

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