Taliban frees detained journalists, UN staff

The UN refugee agency announced Friday morning that police had detained two journalists working with the organization and several Afghan employees in Kabul. One of the journalists was Andrew North, a former BBC correspondent who has covered Afghanistan for 20 years. The Taliban released all the detainees Friday afternoon after saying they were able to properly identify them. They also released a women’s rights activist who had spent the last two weeks in detention after police raided her home. While a recent Reporters Without Borders study shows the Taliban has arrested or detained at least 50 media members since it took control of Afghanistan, this was the first time the group has arrested foreign journalists. The report indicated most arrests are violent. 

What is the Taliban’s explanation? Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said police detained the the journalists and staffers because they did not have appropriate identification documents. Mujahid tweeted, “They were in good condition and in contact with their families.”

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s report in World Tour about life for Afghans under Taliban rule.