Headline May 03, 2018/ ''' AFGHANISTAN'S DEADLY AFTERMATHS '''

''' AFGHANISTAN'S DEADLY 

AFTERMATHS '''

''SHAH MARAI WAS a very good photographer - the very best - but he was also a very, very good man.'' said his old colleague and friend Omar Sobhani.

''I TAUGHT MYSELF photography, so I am always looking to improve,'' Shah Marai said in a company profile in 2015.

''NOW my photos appear around the world, My best memories are when I beat the competition by getting the best photographs of the president or someone else, or from the scene of a bomb attack. I like to be the first.''

He leaves behind six children, including a newborn daughter.

''This is a devastating blow for the brave staff of our close-knit Kabul bureau and the entire agency,'' said AFP Global News Director Michele Leridon.

''Shah Marai was a treasured colleague who spent more than 16 years documenting the tragic conflict in Afghanistan for AFP.

We can only honor the extraordinary strength, courage, and generosity of a photographer who covered often traumatic, horrific events with sensitivity and consummate professionalism,'' Leridon said.   

NINE JOURNALISTS AMONG 25 KILLED in twin Kabul blast. And then at least 11 students/children killed in another attack in Kandhar.

And that just so tragically also includes Agence France Press chief photographer for Afghanistan Shah Marai and eight other journalists, when two suicide blasts ripped through Kabul on Monday.

The attacks, claimed by the Islamic state group, are the deadliest to have targeted the media in Afghanistan since the fall of Taliban 2001, according to Reporters without Borders.

They spurred an outpouring of grief among journalists, many of whom took to Twitter to post tributes to colleagues and friends.

Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said the second explosion came minutes after the first and targeted reporters at the scene.

''The bomber disguised himself as journalist and detonated himself among the crowd,'' he said.

The interior ministry confirmed the death toll and said 49 people had been wounded. There were fears that the death toll could rise.

In a separate attack, 11 children were killed and 16 people wounded, including foreign and Afghan security force members, when a suicide attacker exploded his bomb laden car near a convoy in the southern province of Kandahar, officials said.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for that attack.

In a statement Reporters without Borders said nine journalists were killed in Kabul - Marai, along with colleagues from Radio Free Europe and Afghanistan broadcasters Tolo News and iTV, among others.

Marai joined AFP as driver in 1996, the year the Taliban seized power, and began taking pictures on the side, covering stories including the US invasion in 2001.

In 2002 he became a full-time photo stringer, rising through the ranks to become chief photographer in the bureau.

Tributes from Afghan officials, analysts and journalists were pouring in on Twitter.

''NO, we can't lose Marai, I am devastated,'' former interior ministry spokesman Sadiq Sediqqi wrote.

Other journalists who lost their lives to the barbaric attack include Maharam Durrani, a young female producer who had joined Radio Azadi, a local station, only a week earlier.

And then:

'' It was with great sadness that BBC can confirm the death of BBC Afghan reporter Ahmad Shah following an attack earlier today,'' BBC World Service director  Jamie Angus said in a statement, and added:

''This is a devastating loss and I send my sincere condolences to Ahmed Shah's friends and family and the whole BBC Afghan team. We are doing all we can to support his family at this very difficult time.''

The World Students Society expresses its grief and sadness and has the honor, to most respectfully dedicate this Operational Research Headline and publishing to the memory of these journalists. And then -

To the Leaders, Students, Professors and Teachers of Afghanistan. See Ya all register on !WOW! -the World Students Society and................. Twitter-!E-WOW! - the  Ecosystem 2011:

''' Federal & Funding '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless