Radio and TV journalists in Afghanistan announced a week-long boycott of covering police activities in northern Balkh province after accusing the force of mistreating them, reports Pajhwok.com.

This was announced at a press conference by the newly formed Journalists Protection Committee following an attack last week on Abdul Hamid Sapi – an Afghan TV reporter with German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

The incident was also reported by Nai Media Watch, which tracks abuse against journalists, on Twitter.

The head of the committee, Noor Agha Sharifi, claimed that when they went to the police headquarters to inquire about progress in cases of violence against journalists, the police chief did not meet them.

According to Sharifi, this was an insult to them and that was why they would boycott covering the police force’s activities for a week.

Another member of the committee and president of Journalists Union of the North, Gulab Shah Bawar, told Pajhwok Afghan News that security forces had never respected journalists’ views about their problems.

He said three journalists had been attacked over the past few months, but none of the incidents have been investigated so far.  

In another recent development, sources have told AsiaRadioToday that the Police Chief of Herat province has been accused of personally beating up a journalist.

Afghanistan is a dangerous place for journalists and according to data on violence against journalists in Afghanistan gathered by Nai’s MediaWatch team, 578 such incidents have taken place from 2001 to 2015.

2014 was the worst year with 86 incidents of violence against journalists and Kabul was worst affected with 225 such cases.