KABUL
Journalist Anas Mallick, who was reported missing in Kabul on Thursday, has revealed that he was “physically assaulted” during his disappearance.
The Islamabad-based journalist, who is affiliated with Indian news channel WION, surfaced on Friday, with the Foreign Office in Pakistan and Ambassador Mansoor Khan in Kabul both sharing on Twitter that Mallick was “safe” and “back in Kabul”.
Hours later, WION claimed in a report that Mallick was in fact “abducted by the Taliban”.
In a video report, Anas told WION “I was picked up yesterday by what we know are the Taliban in Kabul”.
“Twenty-one hours of ordeal has finally come to an end,” he said, adding that he, as well as a local producer and driver who were with him while they were filming general shots, was picked up on Thursday, a day after he had arrived in Kabul to cover the one-year anniversary of the Taliban takeover and “how Afghanistan is now”.
“We were intercepted, taken out of the car (dragged out of the car to be precise) our phones were taken away, and then we were assaulted (physically assaulted),” he said. “My crew was also assaulted and I was assaulted as well.”
Mallick continued: “After some while we were shifted from the place where we were intercepted to what we know was the GDI, or the Grand Directory of Intelligence, the GDI unit the Afghan Taliban.”
He said he and his colleagues were “questioned thoroughly” on their journalistic credentials and were also asked “personal questions”.
The journalist said around 9:30pm (AFT) on Thursday, he was moved to a room and told he would be allowed to walk free in the morning “upon the translator or the tarjuman (representative) showing up”.
He said he was eventually allowed to walk free at 10:10am (AFT) on Friday, “dropped off to be precise”.
Mallick pointed out that he and his team on the assignment in Kabul were Delhi accredited and had all their press credentials.
However, “my press credentials are still not with me. The accreditation and permit letter are still not with me,” he told WION.
He also mentioned that the local producer and driver working with him were still “withheld by the Taliban”.
Later, WION tweeted that both of them had been “released after 42 hours of detention”. Attached to the tweet were pictures of bare, bruised backs of men.
Mallick was reported missing on Thursday, with Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Asim Iftikhar expressing concern on the matter.
“We at @foreignofficePK are deeply concerned about the disappearance of @AnasMallick, FO correspondent, from #Kabule yesterday. We are in touch with local authorities and @PakAfg for his early and safe return to Pakistan,” he had said on Friday.
