Muhammad Iqbal, a Baloch journalist based in Khuzdar, went missing in Kabul after he was arrested along with two others by the Taliban in Kabul. He is yet to be released.
According to Reuters, the Taliban arrested three Pakistani journalists who were covering the recent events in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. The two Pakistani journalists, who were presenters for the Pakistan-based Khyber News, were released, but Iqbal, who worked for 92 News, is still missing.
Iqbal’s family members have said that he was present at the Kabul airport on August 26 at the time of the explosion that killed scores of people. He was last contacted at the airport and went missing soon afterwards.
There are reports from inside Afghanistan that the three journalists were arrested by the Afghan Taliban over suspicion that they might have been involved in the explosion. It is still not clear why Muhammad Iqbal is being kept in confinement whereas his two counterparts were released soon after the arrest.
Pakistani Federal Union of Journalists condemned Iqbal’s detention in strong terms and appealed to the Pakistani and Afghan authorities for his safe release.