‘I am Losing Hope’ Says Afghan Journalist Trying to Flee to Safety
Voice of America
WASHINGTON - Afghan journalists say they are living in fear and are frustrated by the slow and complicated process of finding safety in a new country. Reporter asks Mujahid: this seat you are sitting in right now Meenapal sat there last week. You claimed responsibility for his killing. Was this just about power?He says the war was declared by Afghan gov which had publicly announced prep for 6 months fighting.
“I am very disappointed,” a journalist who worked with an international media outlet told VOA. “I do not know what will happen to me. I really fear for my life.” The journalist, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, says she and her family left Herat a day before it fell to the Taliban. Before that, fighters had been threatening her via phone and in person. The journalist moved to Kabul. But that too has fallen.Israeli Ofer Kalderon, who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, waves before being handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas fighters in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 1, 2025. Israeli Yarden Bibas, 34, who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, is escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 1, 2025.
A rescued pug plays in the home of Cheryl Gaw in Johannesburg, South Africa, Jan. 14, 2025. Cheryl Gaw plays with some of the 2,500 pugs she has rescued in South Africa at her home in Johannesburg, South Africa, Jan. 14, 2025. Pugs pause for a photograph at the home of Cheryl Gaw in Johannesburg, South Africa, Jan. 14, 2025.
The homepage of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine's website on Jan. 31, 2025. Sergiy Tomilenko, president of the organization, says many Ukrainian media outlets face the threat of closure after the United States froze all foreign aid for 90 days. The homepage of Frontier Myanmar's website, Jan. 31, 2025. Ben Dunant, editor-in-chief of the magazine, says, “It is difficult — or even impossible — for many [media outlets] to make commercial revenue” in war-torn Myanmar.