Two AP columnists shot in Afghanistan, one lethally, in front of decisions

2 AP columnists shot in Afghanistan

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

 NEW: A blast at a close-by surveying station in Khost territory murders two individuals, authority says

 German camera person Anja Niedringhaus was slaughtered in the ambush, Associated Press says

 Canadian news person Kathy Gannon was harmed, is in a stable condition, AP says

 The strike on the two ladies writers goes ahead the eve of Afghanistan's decisions

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) - Two columnists working for The Associated Press have been shot in Afghanistan, one of them lethally, the news office said Friday.

The Associated Press said the killed columnist was Anja Niedringhaus, 48, an universally acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning German photographic artist. She was shot in Afghanistan's eastern Khost region.

The second columnist focused by the shooter was Kathy Gannon, a Canadian correspondent situated in Islamabad, the AP said. She is said to be in a stable condition and is getting medicinal consideration.

"Anja and Kathy together have used years in Afghanistan coating the clash and the individuals there," said AP official editorial manager Kathleen Carroll, talking in New York. "Anja was a vibrant, dynamic writer decently cherished for her smart photos, her warm heart and happiness forever. We are crushed at her misfortune."

In a letter to AP staff Friday morning, CEO Gary Pruitt additionally adulated her bravery and ability, depicting her as "vivacious, fearless and intrepid, with a rambunctious snicker that we will never forget."

The two ladies were going in their own particular auto in an escort of race specialists conveying tallies in Khost territory, ensured by the Afghan National Army and Afghan police, the news organization said.

An unit commandant strolled up to their auto as it held up to move, shouted "Allahu akbar" - "God is extraordinary" - and opened fire on them in the rearward sitting arrangement, the AP said. He then surrendered to the next police present.

The explanation behind the ambush is vague, yet police have captured the suspected shooter and the case is under examination, Baryalay Rawan, a representative for the Khost commonplace senator, told CNN.

Hours after the fact, a shell blasted in a surveying focus in the territory's Tanai area, just about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the scene of the ambush on the columnists, he said.

Two individuals were slaughtered - one of them Tanai area's delegate police head - and three were harmed, Rawan said. Those damage included police and security administration officers, he said.

The assaults came in the middle of elevated security on the eve of Afghanistan's presidential and common decisions.

Taliban disturbance

The third presidential vote since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, this current year's races stamp the first popularity based handover of force in the delicate nation, with current President Hamid Karzai - who is term-constrained by the constitution - giving over control.

The Taliban have promised to disturb the races and rebuff anybody included in them.

An arrangement of ambushes in the capital, Kabul, and somewhere else has damaged the run-up to the races.

On Wednesday, a suicide assault plane exploded himself at the door entryway to the Interior Ministry in Kabul, killing six Afghan cops, Interior Ministry agent Sediq Sediqqi said. The Taliban guaranteed obligation regarding the ambush.

A day prior, a common chamber hopeful and nine of his supporters were killed by the Taliban in northern Sar-e-Pul region, said the territory's representative police head, Sakhidad Haidari.

Different writers slaughtered

A month ago, the names of two more writers were added to the rundown of those killed in Afghanistan.

Sardar Ahmad, one of Afghanistan's most noticeable writers and a senior correspondent for Agence France-Presse, was around nine individuals executed in an assault on the Serena Hotel in focal Kabul.

That ambush came short of what two weeks after Swedish Radio journalist Nils Horner was shot dead in expansive light on a Kabul road.

In his letter to AP staff, Pruitt said: "As clash spreads all around areas of the world, news coverage has gotten to be more unsafe. Where once correspondents and photographic artists were seen as the fair eyes and ears of vital data, today they are frequently targets."

The Committee to Protect Journalists highlighted the dangers confronted by writers, especially ladies, in Afghanistan in a piece distributed in February.

Some fear those dangers may build as the arranged withdrawal of NATO battle powers, including U.s. troops, looms at the end of the year.

Changed mission?

The NATO-headed International Security Assistance Force had a little more than 51,000 troops, from 48 separate nations, in Afghanistan as of Tuesday. Of those, the lion's share - something like 33,500 - are from the United States.

Karzai has declined to consent to an arrangement to keep outside security troops in the nation after 2014.

Anyhow Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO's incomparable unified officer Europe, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour this week that he foresees universal powers will stay in Afghanistan after the presently planned withdrawal.

"I think you will see an expansive ISAF battle mission changed to a more modest however proceeded undaunted help, prepare, exhort and aid mission at the end of the year," he said. "NATO's mission doesn't end (after 2014); NATO's battle mission closes, however our train, exhort, aid mission starts, and this is extremely essential to recollect."

The three heading presidential competitors - Abdullah, Zalmai Rassoul and Ashraf Ghani - have told CNN that they are energetic about marking an arrangement.

Abdullah, who was a vocal pundit of the Taliban throughout their years in force, was a past Karzai partner and served in his administration as remote clergyman. Yet in later years, he has been a thistle in the side of the friendly President.