Attack on Afghan reporter tests Taliban’s media freedom pledge

Ziar Khan Yaad from TOLO TV was attacked by apparent Taliban members, raising questions over media freedoms.

Kabul, Afghanistan – On Wednesday morning, Ziar Khan Yaad left the offices of TOLO TV, Afghanistan’s largest private broadcaster, and headed out to film a news report on the nation’s struggling economy in the wake of the Taliban takeover 12 days ago. With his cameraman in tow, Yaad headed to the Haji Yaqub Mosque in the capital, Kabul, where dozens of daily-wage workers line up every day to procure construction, painting and other manual labouring jobs. Yaad had just started his on-camera interview when an armoured white Land Cruiser pulled up to the side of the road and men started storming towards them. Suddenly, the men, claiming to be Taliban, confiscated their phones, camera, microphones and other equipment, while others started beating the two media workers.