The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the killing of three women working for a local radio and TV station in eastern Afghanistan, the latest in a spike in targeted killings across the war-tor country.
Dozens of people gathered Wednesday for the funerals of the three media workers.
The women were gunned down on Tuesday in separate attacks, according to the news editor of the privately owned station and officials in Nangarhar province.
Afghan officials said police arrested the alleged killer of the three, identifying him as Qari Baser and insisting he was a Taliban — a claim promptly denied by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.Nangarhar police chief, Gen. Juma Gul Hemat, said Baser had used a pistol with a silencer in the attacks.
He was arrested shortly after the attacks by police in Jalalabad, the provincial capital. The IS claim, posted late Tuesday, contradicted the Afghan government's accusations against the Taliban.
The militants said the three female journalists were targeted becausethey worked for one of the “media stations loyal to the apostate Afghan government” in Jalalabad.