The murder of AFP reporter Sardar Ahmad and his family members as part of an attack that killed nine people in a luxury hotel in Kabul hit journalists in Afghanistan particularly hard.

Ahmad, his wife and two of his children were gunned down on Friday when four men with concealed handguns gained access to the Serena Hotel on the eve of the Persian new year. His infant son remains in critical condition with "several bullet wounds," according to the Associated Press.

The brutal nature of the attack has spurred anger amongst a group of journalists that is used to witnessing violence that often targets innocent civilians. Violence is getting worse in the region, they told Mashable, indicative of the broader deterioration of security.

Before Ahmad's death, the execution-style shooting of radio correspondent Nils Horner in a busy, relatively secure area of Kabul earlier this month had put journalists on edge.

"The killing of Nils Horner and Sardar Ahmad (and his family) was just too close to home this time. It happened in Kabul, within a month, in places we know and frequently visit, where we felt we were safe," Subel Bhandari, Afghanistan-Pakistan bureau chief for German newswire dpa, told Mashable in an email. "In the case of Sardar, it was the cowardice, brutal murder of his two very young children in execution-style that remains unfathomable for us. Even by Taliban standard, this was the lowest."

In response, Afghan journalists took a stand. In a move without much precedent, a group calling itself "The gathering of Afghan journalists" issued a statement that it would boycott coverage of the Taliban for 15 days.

The Taliban carry out such attacks, which can never be justified, solely for the purpose of news-coverage and projecting terror among Afghan citizens. Therefore, the journalism family in Afghanistan, in a collective decision, has decided to boycott coverage of news related to the Taliban for a period of 15 days, refraining from broadcasting any information that could further the Taliban’s claimed purpose of terror.

The uptick in violence has comes as Afghanistan readies for a presidential election on April 5 that would be the country's first democratic transfer of power. The Taliban had publicly warned that it would target locations associated with the election. Violence has already driven away two foreign election observers, personnel considered critical to preventing fraud and ensuring legitimacy.

Marc Lavine, AFP's Asia-Pacific bureau chief, said that the media organization had initiated a full review of its security guidelines following death of Ahmad and his family members.

He added that the violence in the area had been escalating.

"The security environment in Afghanistan has been increasingly challenging in recent years, and even more so in the run-up to the national elections in a few weeks," Lavine wrote to Mashable in an email. "There are a number of possible threats to journalists in Afghanistan, ranging from kidnappings bombings, armed assaults to apparently targeted killings – as we saw with the tragic death of Swedish journalist Nils Horner in Kabul recently."

While the Taliban claimed responsibility for the hotel attack, Afghanistan officials said they believe a foreign intelligence service is responsible. A Taliban spokesperson told The New York Times that Ahmad and his family were unintended victims in the attack.

Regardless of the source of the violence, journalists across the region have been in danger, particularly local correspondents that are on the front lines without the support of major media organizations.

Journalist fatalities have been particularly high in Syria and Egypt, according to Sherif Mansour, Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists.

"We see more and more mostly the fatalities are among local journalists. In Syria it was 92% who were killed were local journalists," Mansour said. "Those who have been targeted and are paying the price are more and more local and young media activists, those ones who are taking more risks and have less preparation and training to deal with a conflict environment."

Deteriorating security comes as the U.S. has scaled back its presence in the country. Tensions over a security agreement with Afghanistan has led to threats of a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Afghanistan had been becoming safer for journalists, according to data from Nai, a non-governmental organization that encourages open media in Afghanistan.

Image: Nai

But now, areas that had been secure are now becoming dangerous, Bhandari said.

"There are many places where I could go previously, but not anymore (for e.g. Ghorband valley, some two hours drive north of Kabul)," he wrote. "There are very few places where it was previously unsafe, but now safe to go. For most areas, it is the opposite."

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