On Saturday, the Taliban abducted six Afghan reporters working in eastern Paktia province for private and government media organizations, government officials and Taliban said.
The journalists were kidnapped while traveling in group from neighboring Paktika province to Paktia, working for radio and TV news firms that broadcast news in Pashto and Dari languages, to attend a press workshop on Friday.
“We are trying to negotiate their release with the Taliban,” said Abdullah Hasrat, a spokesman for Paktia’s governor.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Taliban verified their fighters ‘ kidnapping of the six reporters, but said they would quickly be released.
“Yes, our mujahideens (fighters) have mistakenly kidnapped them,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the hardline insurgent group.
“Right now mobile services are not working, but they will be released as soon as we establish contact with the local commander,” he said.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Afghanistan was ranked the deadliest nation in the globe to be a journalist in 2018, with 13 deaths.
The International Federation of Journalists reported that 16 journalists were killed last year.
The Taliban published a threat to the Afghan media in June, stating that reporters will be targeted unless news outlets stopped broadcasting what they described as insurgent state propaganda.
The group’s military commission gave media organizations a week to stop broadcasting “anti-Taliban advertisements,” a warning denounced by the Afghan government and Western diplomats.
A Taliban suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a bus carrying Tolo TV staff, the biggest private broadcaster in the country, killing seven reporters in 2016.
The Taliban said the journalists were murdered because Tolo made propaganda that backed the U.S. and its allies ‘ occupation of Afghanistan in their fight against the insurgents.