Afghan TV anchor murdered in Kabul

A prominent Afghan television news journalist and political activist has been stabbed to death near his Kabul home, police said on Monday.

Sayed Hamid Noori, who was also deputy head of Afghanistan's National Journalists' Association, was found dead of knife wounds late on Sunday.

"Someone called him and asked him to come down from his apartment last night. His body was found later by police in a tree-covered area near his home," deputy Kabul police chief Khalilullah Dastyar told AFP.

Another media rights' group, the Centre to Support Journalists, said Noori had been stabbed and then beheaded.

The police official said Noori might have been killed by "a friend" because he willingly went to see the caller. He said a murder investigation had been opened.

Noori, 45, was a TV news anchor at the state-owned broadcaster RTA. He was also known for his political activism on behalf of groups opposed to President Hamid Karzai.

In post-Taliban Afghanistan journalists have been often targeted by insurgent groups for attacks over their work. Karzai's Western-backed government has also been blamed for assaults on reporters.