On April 30, 2018, Maharram Durrani was on her way to a training session at RFE/RL’s Kabul bureau when a coordinated suicide attack killed 25 people. She was among the nine journalists who died that morning in Afghanistan’s capital.
Before accepting a position with RFE/RL, Durrani worked for an Afghan online music channel called Radio Salam Watandar. She was a third-year student of Islamic law at Kabul University and just beginning her career in journalism.
“She was confident and passionate about reporting on women’s issues in Afghanistan.”
Hashem Mohmand, Director for Radio Free Afghanistan
May 15 would have been her first with RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi working on a weekly women’s program.
“When I began working in media, one of my first bosses asked me why I was studying Islamic law but working in media,” Durrani told RFE/RL during a February phone-in program. “He said these are not related subjects. But I said, ‘No, that’s not true’,” she explained. “It’s very much related because the media can provide information to all people.”
Durrani was 28-year old.