The VOA, quoting its own sources in Kabul, said in its report that shortly after the news of Malik’s disappearance surfaced, diplomats from India and Pakistan contacted the Taliban authorities concerned for the safety and freedom of the journalist. According to the report, Taliban sources attributed the delay to the incessant phone calls from the Indian and Pakistani embassies, both demanding the release of Malik.
Journalist works for Indian news channel
According to sources related to the matter, Taliban officials asked the Indian side, ‘We know that he is a Pakistani. How can you tell that he is your man?’ The matter was clouded by suspicion when an Indian official told that Malik works for an India-based news channel. However, the Pakistani embassy also continued to call Taliban officials and demanded the release of the journalist.
Malik was returning from reporting
According to the report, the Taliban have released Malik, who works for WION, an Indian news channel headquartered in New Delhi, from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. The journalist was reportedly asked to leave Afghanistan. Arriving in Pakistan, he told his channel that the Taliban had “dragged” him out of the car when he was returning from a posh area of Kabul reporting.
Order to stay away from Zawahiri’s house
This was the same area where the US killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike on Sunday. The Taliban have ordered journalists to stay away from the house where Zawahiri was killed. Taliban officials have yet to respond to allegations of detaining three people.