Pakistani journalist Muhammad Iqbal Mengal who went to Afghanistan to report on the Taliban capture of the country was reportedly detained by the Taliban along with his colleagues. Mengal and his colleague photojournalist Shehzad Ahmed, were kept in custody by the Taliban for over 10 days, as per a report by VOA News.
Both journalists work for Pakistani channel 92 News. They were released after the intervention of the Pakistan embassy in Kabul and journalists’ organisations.
VOA quoted the journalist as saying that he and his colleague, Ahmed, were tied up and blindfolded by the Taliban who also questioned them. He added that the Taliban kept asking them if they were spies and where they had come from.
The journalists are from the Khuzdar district of Balochistan, and they reached the Afghan border area, Spin Boldak, on August 18. Mengal further told VOA that he wanted to cover the developing situation in Afghanistan and speak to the local people for the purpose. Before going to Kabul, Mengal and his colleague reported from Kandahar and Herat.
When they were reporting the developments following the bombing at Kabul airport, Taliban stopped them from entering the emergency room of a city hospital. According to Mengal, the Taliban authorities said that they can’t be let in because the ‘upper leadership’ has not given permission for the same.
