Disturbing images of Afghan journalists displaying injuries sustained after being beaten by the Taliban have highlighted global concerns the hardline Islamist group is unwilling to deliver on promises to protect human rights and guarantee freedom of press as it forms a new Afghan government.
At least two such images have surfaced in the aftermath and have been shared by verified Twitter handles, including in one post by Marcus Yam (a foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times) and in another by Etilaatroz (an Afghan news publication).
Images tweeted by Mr Yam show two men stripped to their innerwear and standing with their backs to the camera. Their backs and legs are covered with what appear to be red welts and bruises – such as might occur from repeated and vicious flogging.
Images tweeted by Etilaatroz show the same two men, whom the publication has identified as its employees – Taqi Daryabi and Nematullah Naqdi – and a close-up of their injuries.
According to Etilaatroz, Mr Daryabi and Mr Naqdi – a video editor and a reporter – were covering a protest led by women in the Kart-e-Char area of western Kabul yesterday, when they were abducted by the Taliban, taken to different rooms and beaten and tortured.
“We were shouting that we are journalists. But they didn’t care,” Mr Naqdi was quoted by the LA Times, “I thought they were going to kill me. . .They kept on ridiculing us…”
According to the LA Times the Taliban also stopped its journalists from photographing the protesting women; the foreign correspondents, however, were only forced to leave the area.
Etilaatroz also reported that three other journalists, including the local head of Euronews, a pan-European TV news network headquartered in France, were also abducted.
They were later released unharmed.
