CPJ to Taliban: Stop detaining journalists

KABUL (Pajhwok): An international organisation has urged Taliban leaders to instruct their fighters to immediately stop detaining and harassing journalists in Afghanistan.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also asked the Taliban to allow the media to operate freely and without fear of violence or reprisal/

The statement from non-profit organisation comes after Taliban fighters detained Abdul Mateen Achakzai and Muhammad Ali, a reporter and camera operator with the Pakistani news channel Khyber News on August 25.

The two were held while reporting in the capital of southern Kandahar province, according to the Pakistan edition of English-language regional daily Arab News.

The Pakistan Press Foundation and Mubarak Ali, chief controller of Khyber News, told CPJ the two were released on August 27.

Meanwhile, CPJ is probing reports of the disappearance of Muhammad Iqbal Mengal, a reporter with the Pakistani broadcaster 92 News, who went missing on August 26.

He was detained while covering the aftermath of the Kabul airport bombing.

Rana Muhammad Azeem, general secretary of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and an anchor with 92 News, confirmed Mengal was in Taliban custody

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid and a police officer told Azeem that Mengal was detained because he was reporting without Taliban permission and a valid visa.

CPJ said it was unable to independently confirm that Mengal was in Taliban custody.

Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, said: “It’s time for the Taliban to live up to the commitment it’s made to allow independent journalism to continue operating.”

“The Taliban leadership must make it crystal clear to fighters around the country that they should stop detaining and interfering with journalists as they go about their work.”

pr/mud