Journalist working for British news channel shot dead in Kabul

A foreign journalist working for a British news channel has been reportedly shot on Tuesday by gunmen in Kabul, the Afghan capital.

The Afghan Police was reported to have confirmed the incident.


"The British journalist was said to be travelling in his car along with his Afghan interpreter at Wazir Akbar Khan area’s 15th Street when he was shot,'' Gul Agha Hashemi, Chief of the Kabul Police Criminal Investigation Department, said.


“He was immediately taken to the nearby Emergency Hospital, where he died of his injuries,” Hashemi said.


Wazir Akbar Khan area houses several diplomatic missions and aid agencies.


The interpreter and two suspects are now in police custody, Hashemi said.


The journalist also held a Swedish passport which he used to enter the country, another official said.


The interpreter confirmed the victim had Swedish nationality, Hashemi said.

The Swedish embassy did not respond to a request for comment.


The shooting occurred close to the Lebanese restaurant that was attacked by three suicide bombers in January, killing 21 people including 13 foreigners.