British-Swedish journalist shot dead in Afghanistan

A Swedish journalist was shot dead Tuesday in a brazen daytime attack on a street in the Afghan capital. 

It was the second deadly attack on foreigners in two months in an affluent and well-guarded area of Kabul. 

Fifty-one-year-old Nils Horner, who also had British citizenship, had worked for Swedish Radio since 2001 as a foreign correspondent mostly in Asia and the Middle East. 

Police said they were investigating whether it was an insurgent attack targeting a foreigner or whether the motive was personal. 

The killing came a day after the Taliban vowed “to use all force necessary” to disrupt the April 5 Afghan presidential vote. But a spokesman for the Islamic militant movement denied it was responsible for the attack. 

A guard at a restaurant across the street from where the attack happened said two young men approached the journalist as he was talking to his translator. The guard said one of the men pulled out a pistol and shot Horner in the head.

The area where the attack occurred is home to several embassies, and there was a police checkpoint about 100 meters away.

Horner’s assassination has heightened concern that insurgents may step up their campaign of violence against foreigners, something that is relatively rare in the capital.

Source: THE TIMES OF EARTH, VOA and agencies