Kabul: Four people were gunned down in Behsud by Kuchi invaders still present in the area despite an evacuation order issued on July 17 from President Karzai.
Three of the dead were buried on Monday, July 28, in Dasht-e-Barchi, West Kabul. They were Behsudis from Kabul who were were visiting their hometown when they were shot dead by Kuchis, reported Ayena and Farda TVs. Hundreds of people, including Mohaqiq and Akbari, participated in the funeral procession of the martyrs. The fourth martyr was buried in Behsud.
An estimated 300,000 people took to the streets of Kabul last week to protest against Government’s inaction on Behsud invasion by armed Kuchis. Media reports indicated that Kuchis are gradually evacuating from the vilalges–Eyewitness accounts, however, suggest the contrary.
According to reports, the Kuchis are still ruining the pastures of local people and engaging in killing of those displaced people who attempt to return to their villages. Presently, an estimated 20,000 displaced people are away from their villages.
Media Partiality: Despite the major scale of the displacement and the serious nature of the unrest caused by the armed Kuchis, local Afghan media have been surprisingly silent. All major national TV networks have largely remained silent–even international outlets such as the BBC, VOA, CNN and others have by and large ignored covering the issue. This has led some to suspect that the correspondents for these foreign media agencies, who are mostly local Afghans, find it difficult to move past their ethnic loyalties to provide fair, impartial coverage to the issue.
Pajhwak: Pajhwak Afghan News agency is one of major Afghan news agencies; it provided an almost no coverage of the Kuchi invasion. Their reportage and editorial stance show clear ambivalence toward what is an issue of national importance, giving partial, unprofessional coverage. In a display of ethnocentricism, they have entirely ignored the human cost of the atrocities pertetrated by the invading Kuchis on the people of Behsud, and have mostly echoed presidential statements and decrees.