Taliban Beat Pair of Afghan Journalists for Covering Women’s Protest

Two reporters in Afghanistan said Thursday they were detained and beaten by Taliban militants for attempting to report on a women’s protest in the country’s capital.

Nemat Naqdi, 28, and Taqi Daryabi, 22, said they were attempting to report on the Wednesday protest in Kabul for the newspaper Etilaat Roz — or Information Daily — when Taliban forces arrested them. They said they were subsequently taken to a local police station and accused of organizing the protest.

 

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“The Taliban started insulting me, kicking me” at the protest, Naqdi told the AFP. After being taken to the station, he added, “One of the Taliban put his foot on my head, crushed my face against the concrete. They kicked me in the head … I thought they were going to kill me.”

The duo said they were released a few hours later after being told, “You are lucky you weren’t beheaded.” Photos of their injuries quickly began to circulate online.

The

development comes despite Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid’s August 17 assurance that reporters would be free to work under the Taliban regime. “There will be no threat against them,” Mujahid said at the time. “If journalists have stayed at home in some places, it is because of the war situation. They will soon be able to work as before.”

Additional protests in Kabul were canceled on Thursday after the militant group said it was prohibiting such gatherings “for the time being,” while threatening “severe legal consequences” for transgressors.