Gunmen Kill 2 Taliban, 2 Civilians in Eastern Afghan City

Gunmen shot and killed two Taliban fighters and two civilians on Saturday in the eastern city of Jalalabad, a Taliban official said. (AFP)
Gunmen shot and killed two Taliban fighters and two civilians on Saturday in the eastern city of Jalalabad, a Taliban official said. (AFP)
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Gunmen Kill 2 Taliban, 2 Civilians in Eastern Afghan City

Gunmen shot and killed two Taliban fighters and two civilians on Saturday in the eastern city of Jalalabad, a Taliban official said. (AFP)
Gunmen shot and killed two Taliban fighters and two civilians on Saturday in the eastern city of Jalalabad, a Taliban official said. (AFP)

Gunmen shot and killed two Taliban fighters and two civilians on Saturday in the eastern city of Jalalabad, a Taliban official said.

Two other civilians were wounded in the attack, said Mohammad Hanif, a cultural official for the city's surrounding province, Nangarhar.

No one claimed responsibility for the shooting, but the ISIS group, which has a strong presence in Nangarhar and considers the Taliban an enemy, has previously claimed several attacks against them, including several killings in Jalalabad.

The two civilians killed were Sayed Maroof Sadat, a former spokesman for the Nangarhar department of agriculture, and his cousin, Sharif Sadat told the AP. Sadat’s son was among the two wounded, he added.

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August, attacks by ISIS militants against them have increased. The rise has raised the specter of a wider conflict between the two extremist groups.

On Friday, Taliban fighters raided a hideout of the ISIS group north of Kabul, killing and arresting an unspecified number of militants, a Taliban spokesman said. ISIS activity in Nangarhar province has also led to Taliban crackdowns there.



Case of Italian Journalist Detained in Iran ‘Complicated’, Rome Says

A file picture dated 26 September 2023 shows Italian journalist and writer Cecilia Sala as a guest in the TV show "Stasera c'è Cattelan" in the RAI studios in Milan, Italy (issued 28 December 2024). (EPA)
A file picture dated 26 September 2023 shows Italian journalist and writer Cecilia Sala as a guest in the TV show "Stasera c'è Cattelan" in the RAI studios in Milan, Italy (issued 28 December 2024). (EPA)
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Case of Italian Journalist Detained in Iran ‘Complicated’, Rome Says

A file picture dated 26 September 2023 shows Italian journalist and writer Cecilia Sala as a guest in the TV show "Stasera c'è Cattelan" in the RAI studios in Milan, Italy (issued 28 December 2024). (EPA)
A file picture dated 26 September 2023 shows Italian journalist and writer Cecilia Sala as a guest in the TV show "Stasera c'è Cattelan" in the RAI studios in Milan, Italy (issued 28 December 2024). (EPA)

The case of an Italian journalist being held in Iran is "complicated", but Rome hopes to bring 29-year-old Cecilia Sala home quickly, Italy's foreign minister said on Saturday.

Sala, 29, who works for the newspaper Il Foglio and the podcast company Chora Media, was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19 but her arrest was only made public on Friday.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he hoped the issue could be resolved quickly but added: "It doesn't depend on us."

"We're trying to solve an issue that's complicated," he was quoted as saying by the news agency ANSA.

Tajani said Sala was being held in a single cell, in decent conditions that Italy would keep monitoring:

"It looks like she is being treated in a way that is respectful of personal dignity," he said. "So far we haven't had negative feedback."

Tajani said the official reason for Sala's detention was not yet clear, but that he hoped her lawyer could visit her soon and find out more.

There was no official public confirmation of the arrest from Iran, and Tajani declined to say whether it might be linked to the arrest of an Iranian in Italy this month at the request of the US.

Sala, who is being held in Tehran's Evin prison, left Italy for Iran on Dec. 12 with a valid journalist visa, Chora Media said on Friday. She had been due to fly back to Rome on Dec. 20.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was following Sala's case closely with the aim of bringing her home as soon as possible, urging the media to treat the issue with the "necessary caution".