New Delhi: WION correspondent Anas Mallick who had reached Kabul on Wednesday was abducted by Taliban and alarm bells in India began ringing on Thursday night when no one was able to contact him. Anas was released by the Taliban after almost 24 hours and his crew who were locals were released on Saturday. While in the Taliban’s control, the journalist and his crew members were physically assaulted by the militant organization. They suffered painful bruises all over their body according to reports.
Anas Mallick abduction: Here’s what happened
Anas Mallick was in Kabul to cover the Taliban takeover anniversary. Incidentally, this is also close to the killing of Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri by the US in a drone strike. On Thursdday, Mallick and his crew were collecting visuals of Kabul for the report. The journalist had gone missing after he had reported from near the supposed home of the now-dead Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri.
In an interview with WION, Anas recalled his ordeal while he was kept captive by Taliban. He said, “We were duly accredited, we had all the press credentials and were filming general visuals when we were intercepted, taken out of the car… dragged off the car to be very precise. Our phones were taken away. And then we were physically assaulted. My crew was assaulted and I was assaulted as well.
“After some while, we were shifted from the place where were intercepted to what we know is the intelligence unit of the Afghan-Taliban. We were handcuffed, blindfolded, and faced the wildest accusations and after that were questioned thoroughly on our journalistic credentials as well. Personal questions were also hurled at us.”