Kabul mural honours AFP photographer slain in IS bombing

KABUL – Amnesty International and an Afghan art collective unveiled Tuesday a mural in Kabul in the memory of AFP’s slain chief Afghanistan photographer, Shah Marai, who was killed in April along with eight other reporters in a double suicide bombing by the Islamic State group.

It’s the first in a series of murals planned by Amnesty and the Artlords collective to highlight the work of Afghan activists, teachers, lawyers, students, trade unionists and others.

Earlier in the day, artists from the collective gathered by a segment of blast walls that crisscross the Afghan capital, and finished painting the mural.

It shows Marai, holding his camera, alongside a group of Afghan activists standing behind a banner reading: “We will not forget you. You have stood up for justice, for equality and for us.”

The mural is entitled “Shuja” — the Dari word for “brave.”

In April, two IS suicide bombers struck near the offices of the country’s intelligence service in Kabul, killing 25 people, including nine reporters who had rushed to the scene after the first bomber detonated his explosives. It was the deadliest attack on reporters in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion overthrew the Taliban regime in 2001. Four policemen were also among those killed.

Samira Hamidi, Amnesty’s regional campaigner, said the murals will “highlight the work of human rights defenders in Afghanistan.”

“We will continue to push the Afghan authorities to ensure human rights defenders can work in a safe and enabling environment without fear of reprisals,” she said.