This past week, British Commandos saved a British journalist, Stephen Farrell from what could have been a very dangerous situation as he had been abducted by Taliban insurgents in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan last weekend. During the raid, one of the rescuers and the journalist's translator were killed in addition to about three others according to conflicting reports. Kunduz Province, Afghanistan in 2005 Farrell, a journalist from The New York Times and dual British-Irish citizen, and his Afghan interpreter, Sultan Munadi, were taken captive by the Taliban while covering a September 4th bombing by coalition aircraft not far from Konduz City, Afghanistan. A local Afghan reported that while Farrell was interviewing individuals that witnessed the bombing, he received a warning from another Afghan that he should leave the area. Soon after, gun-shots were heard and the Taliban was said to be approaching. Reportedly, police warned journalists covering the strike that insurgents controlled the area surrounding the tanker and that they should take precautions for their personal safety. When Farrell was taken, few major news outlets reported his capture for security reasons. NY Times Executive Editor Bill Keller earlier said "We feared that media attention would raise the temperature and increase the risk to the captives." Farrell is the second NY Times journalist to be taken captive in Afghanistan in less than a year. In November 2008, reporter David S. Rohde and his colleague Tahir Ludin were taken captive south of Kabul and moved to Pakistan before they managed to escape in June of this year. Farrell was also kidnapped in April 2004 while on-assignment in Fallujah , Iraq. Reporters Without Borders has called for an investigation of the Munadi killing stating that "The tragedy that took place this morning in northern Afghanistan raises many questions." U.S. military officials confirmed the raid was carried out by NATO and Afghan soldiers; no further details were provided.
This past week, British Commandos saved a British journalist, from what could have been a very dangerous situation as he had been abducted by Taliban insurgents in Province, Afghanistan last weekend. During the raid, one of the rescuers and the journalist's translator were killed in addition to about three others according to conflicting reports. Province, Afghanistan in 2005 Farrell, a journalist from The New York Times and dual British-Irish citizen, and his Afghan interpreter, Sultan Munadi, were taken captive by the Taliban while covering a September 4th bombing by coalition aircraft not far from Konduz City, Afghanistan. A local Afghan reported that while Farrell was interviewing individuals that witnessed the bombing, he received a warning from another Afghan that he should leave the area. Soon after, gun-shots were heard and the Taliban was said to be approaching. Reportedly, police warned journalists covering the strike that insurgents controlled the area surrounding the tanker and that they should take precautions for their personal safety. When Farrell was taken, few major news outlets reported his capture for security reasons. NY Times Executive Editor earlier said "We feared that media attention would raise the temperature and increase the risk to the captives." Farrell is the second NY Times journalist to be taken captive in Afghanistan in less than a year. In November 2008, reporter and his colleague Tahir Ludin were taken captive south of Kabul and moved to Pakistan before they managed to escape in June of this year. Farrell was also kidnapped in April 2004 while on-assignment in , Iraq. has called for an investigation of the Munadi killing stating that "The tragedy that took place this morning in northern Afghanistan raises many questions." U.S. military officials confirmed the raid was carried out by NATO and Afghan soldiers; no further details were provided.
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Stephen Farrell
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Kunduz
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Kunduz
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Bill Keller
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David S. Rohde
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Fallujah
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Reporters Without Borders