Kabul Attack: Media Not Convinced as Govt Shares CCTV Footage

The Afghan government on Wednesday shared CCTV footage with the media of the vehicle that was attacked in Kabul three weeks ago in which three Central Bank officials, including former TOLOnews anchor Yama Siawash, were killed.

The footage was shared by First Vice President Amrullah Saleh with media heads in a meeting on Wednesday morning.

But journalist said the footage does not provide convincing answers to their legitimate questions about what really had happened to the car.

Siawash’s family in a meeting with the UN mission’s human rights officials this week urged the need for a thorough investigation by an impartial international institution into the attack to make sure perpetrators of the attack are punished.

The attack happened Makrorayan-e-Char area in Kabul’s PD9 on November 7.

“Previously, the Central Bank was not prepared to share the footage with the media. This footage provides an answer to the question that at least a footage exists there,” said Zaki Daryabi, the editor-in-chief of Kabul-based Etilaatroz daily newspaper.

“The information shared with us did not attain our satisfaction and it was not complete,” said Danish Karokhel, the head of Pajhwok Afghan News.

“No explanation was given to them (Siawash’s family) about how and who placed or planned to use two kilograms of explosives,” said Rahmatullah Nabi, former head of the National Directorate of Security.

Some lawmakers meanwhile criticized Central Bank’s acting governor Ajmal Ahmadi and other officials of the bank for lack of cooperation with a committee appointed by the parliament to investigate the attack.

“The Ministry of Interior has also said that the information that they were seeking from the bank has not been shared with them. Only a 46-minute CCTV footage was shared that does not clarify anything,” said Tawfiq Wahdat, an MP.

“Hundreds of cases like this have not been investigated. Nothing was shared about them with the people and victims’ families,” said Abrarullah Murad, an MP.

Siawash’s colleagues and members of the parliament have said that the Central Bank should provide the CCTV footage and other information to help identify perpetrators.

But the Central Bank said that it has handed the GPS information and CCTV recordings to security agencies to probe this month’s attack on its employees, but security agencies are not providing details in this respect.