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Ahmad Sardar

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Ahmad Sardar (died March 20, 2014) was an Afghan journalist.[1] He, along with nearly his entire family, was killed by Taliban gunmen in a mass shooting in Kabul in March 2014. He was 40 years old.[2][3]

Career

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Sardar began his career as a journalist in 2001 with the fall of the Taliban, when he started working as a translator for Japanese journalists. He was hired by Agence France-Press in 2003 to cover the daily briefings by the United States-led coalition at Bagram Airfield,[4] and became well known in the Afghan media world, and had quickly worked his way up to senior correspondent for AFP at the time of his death.[5][6] He also headed a successful media firm, Pressistan, which he founded in 2009 to support visiting foreign correspondents and to train local journalists.[7][8][9][10] Interviewed in 2012, Sardar said of his job: "I don't think the experiences of a journalist in a country like Afghanistan and a city like Kabul are that pleasant. For example, suicide attacks: we have to go to the scene and look at something very tragic, we have no choice."[11] Ironically his last article was on male lion cub Marjan, on March 19, 2014, which narrated the pathetic state in which Marjan was being housed on a rooftop by a businessman, who had bought the male lion cub as a status symbol for $20,000, and kept his pet on a roof terrace.[12]

Death

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On the evening of March 20, 2014, as the Taliban insurgency was escalating in the run up to the April national elections,[13] Ahmad and his family were having dinner at the Serena Hotel in Kabul, to celebrate the Persian New Year, Nowruz.[14][15] Four Taliban gunmen sneaked weapons into the hotel before going to its restaurant and opening fire; they killed nine people. Four of those killed were Sardar, his wife Humaira, his daughter, Nelofar (aged 6) and his eldest son, Omar (5).[8] The youngest son, two-year-old Abuzar, was hit with multiple rounds and went into a coma, but survived the attack.[16][17] According to Afghan officials, Sardar's family were not the deliberate target of the attack.[18] One of the attackers was believed killed by one of the hotel's armed guards;[19] the rest were killed by Afghan special forces.[20] Surviving son Abuzar may go to Canada to live with an uncle.[21] While they claimed responsibility for the attack, after realising who had been killed, the Taliban insisted the murders of Sardar and his family had been unintentional, a result of crossfire, even going so far as to issue a rare apology for the deaths of the children.[8]

Sardar's death was mourned by an eclectic mix of Afghans and foreigners, from President Hamid Karzai,[22] who visited his surviving son in hospital,[23] to former warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum.[11][24] Many Afghan journalists said they would boycott every Taliban statement and every Taliban-related story for two weeks in protest.[19] Ahmad was described by his bureau chief as "[c]lever, informed, stylish and bubbling with boyish enthusiasm, [...] a five-star journalist, a friend to all at AFP—and a man who impressed every single person he ever met."[6] Mujib Mashal of Harper's Magazine, who met Sardar a month before his death to discuss setting up a magazine, praised his sheer endurance, "something increasingly rare in his generation of Afghan reporters, many of whom have moved on to new careers, exhausted by more than a decade of conflict."[7] Fellow Afghan journalist Harun Najafizada noted that Sardar had had any number of opportunities to leave Afghanistan, but had always opted to stay.[18] The UN Security Council condemned the attack,[25] with International Federation of Journalists describing Sardar's murder as a "horrifying killing",[26] while Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, said Ahmad's loss would be felt "keenly".[27] The American Embassy in Kabul rearranged a press conference so as not to clash with a vigil taking place the Wednesday after his death.[8] His Pressistan Twitter account, which Sardar was always active on, was taken over by his friends to continue as a source of news and views in Afghanistan.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ Peterson, Scott (29 March 2014). "Taliban strike Afghan election HQ in relentless bid to disrupt key vote". csmonitor.com. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Sardar Ahmad, charming and versatile AFP journalist". Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  3. ^ "Colleagues Remember Journalist Murdered in Kabul". Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  4. ^ AFP (21 March 2014). "AFP reporter Sardar Ahmad killed in Kabul hotel attack". New Straits Times. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  5. ^ Campbell, Charlie (21 March 2014). "AFP Reporter Sardar Ahmad Killed in Kabul". time.com. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  6. ^ a b Sheppard, Ben (22 March 2014). "Remembering Sardar Ahmad". blogs.afp.com. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  7. ^ a b Mashal, Mujib (27 March 2014). "Death at the Serena". The Stream. harpers.org. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  8. ^ a b c d Nordland, Rod; Zahori, Habib (26 March 2014). "Killing of Afghan Journalist and Family Members Stuns Media Peers". nytimes.com. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  9. ^ Coren, Ann (24 March 2014). "'It wasn't his time': Afghan journalist, family slain at hotel mourned". CNN. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  10. ^ "Human Rights Watch open letter to Afghan journalist Sardar Ahmad's family, friends, and colleagues". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  11. ^ a b Graham-Harrison, Emma (21 March 2014). "Sardar Ahmad: a courageous journalist who delivered exceptional coverage". theguardian.com. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  12. ^ [1][2][3]Marjan the Lion: in remembrance of Sardar Ahmad's Final Story
  13. ^ "Afghan journalist among those dead in Kabul attack". Committee to Protect Journalists. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  14. ^ Sardar Ahmad: The Journalist who was murdered by the Taliban
  15. ^ Campbell, Charlie (21 March 2014). "AFP Reporter Sardar Ahmad Killed in Kabul". Time. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  16. ^ "Remembering Afghan journalist Sardar Ahmad". Channel 4 News. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  17. ^ "AFP reporter Sardar Ahmad killed in Kabul hotel attack". Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  18. ^ a b Najafizada, Harun (27 March 2014). "Afghan notebook: A voice silenced". BBC News. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  19. ^ a b Rosenberg, Matthew; Ahmed, Azam (21 March 2014). "Illusion of Safety at Afghan Haven Is Shattered". nytimes.com. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  20. ^ "Nine killed in Kabul hotel gun attack". BBC News. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  21. ^ Donati, Jessica (28 March 2014). "Doctors treating toddler shot by Taliban fear rise in Afghan violence". Reuters. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  22. ^ "President Karzai's Condolence Message on the Loss of Afghan Journalist". president.gov.af. 21 March 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-03-31. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  23. ^ "President Karzai Visits Sardar Ahmad's Son Who was Injured in Serena Terrorist Attack". president.gov.af. 29 March 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-03-31. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  24. ^ Associated Press (24 March 2014). "Toddler, 2, emerges from coma after five gunshots — the only survivor of Kabul hotel attack that killed his family". National Post. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  25. ^ "Security Council Press Statement on Terrorist Attack in Afghanistan". un.org. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  26. ^ "CPJ warns of increased safety risk for Afghanistan reporters after AFP journalist killed". Press Gazette. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  27. ^ "UNESCO chief pays tribute to Afghan journalist killed in hotel attack". UN News Center. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
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