Post by Logan on Jan 21, 2016 1:05:09 GMT -6
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The Afghan reporters recognized the voice threatening them with death on the Islamic State group's local radio station. It was a former colleague, who knows their names and where they work.
The threats were made during a discussion program on "Voice of the Caliphate," an elusive radio station operated by one of the extremist group's newest affiliates. The so-called Khorasan Province has battled Afghan forces and the Taliban alike, carving out an enclave in Nangarhar, a rugged eastern province bordering Pakistan.
It has adopted the media strategy of its mother organization in Syria and Iraq, including the production of grisly, professionally made videos showing battles and the killing of captives. But in impoverished Afghanistan, where few have access to the Internet, radio could prove more effective at recruiting fighters and silencing critics.
The group is actively targeting other media outlets to prevent them from competing with its chilling broadcasts. Militants bombed a building housing two radio stations in the provincial capital, Jalalabad, in October, and attacked the local offices of the independent Pajhwok news agency and Voice of America in July.
Continued at hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_AFGHANISTAN_ISLAMIC_STATE_RADIO_ASOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-21-01-15-40
The threats were made during a discussion program on "Voice of the Caliphate," an elusive radio station operated by one of the extremist group's newest affiliates. The so-called Khorasan Province has battled Afghan forces and the Taliban alike, carving out an enclave in Nangarhar, a rugged eastern province bordering Pakistan.
It has adopted the media strategy of its mother organization in Syria and Iraq, including the production of grisly, professionally made videos showing battles and the killing of captives. But in impoverished Afghanistan, where few have access to the Internet, radio could prove more effective at recruiting fighters and silencing critics.
The group is actively targeting other media outlets to prevent them from competing with its chilling broadcasts. Militants bombed a building housing two radio stations in the provincial capital, Jalalabad, in October, and attacked the local offices of the independent Pajhwok news agency and Voice of America in July.
Continued at hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_AFGHANISTAN_ISLAMIC_STATE_RADIO_ASOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-21-01-15-40