KANDAHAR, April 9 2007: “From now on we will arrest all journalists, we will detain them, we will use them to exchange prisoners with the government and, if necessary, we will kill them.” The message of Shahabuddin Atal, one of the spokesmen of the Taliban movement, came from the loudspeaker of a cell phone during a journalist gathering held at the Noor Jahan Hotel in Kandahar on April 9. This is the first time the Taliban explicitly threaten Afghan journalists and the news spread rapidly in Kandahar and all over Afghanistan.

 

     A few hours after the announcement, three Afghan journalists met in a house in Downtown Kandahar to analyze and discuss the nature of this threat. Why are the Taliban targeting Afghan journalists? Ahmadullah Ishaq, who writes for a local newspaper and collaborates with several international news agencies, has no doubts: “This announcement is a consequence of the kidnapping and liberation of [the Italian reporter Daniele] Mastrogiacomo.” First of all, the decision of the Afghan President Hamid Karzai to set free five Taliban prisoners in exchange for one abducted journalist set a precedent upon which the Taliban leadership wants to capitalize. Furthermore, in a press conference held in Kabul on April 5, Rahimullah Samander, Director of the Independent Association of Afghan Journalists, warned the Taliban that if they refused to free Adjmal Nashkbandi (the Afghan journalist abducted along with Mastrogiacomo), all the Afghan media would boycott Taliban news and press releases. Subsequently, many other journalists joined this ultimatum and criticized harshly the Taliban leadership for setting free the Italian reporter and not his Afghan colleague. The reaction of the Taliban was swift and merciless. On April 8, the Taliban beheaded Nashkbandi, and on the following day they issued their injunction against all journalists.

 

     The Taliban spokesman was very clear: “We killed Adjmal because Rahimullah Samander threatened to boycott our news, […] we killed him so that all journalists can learn that they must report the news that we give them and not distort the facts. If they refuse to report the truth, they will die just like Adjmal.” But the journalists in Kandahar do not intend to bow under Taliban pressure. “They want us to use their propaganda as solid facts, it’s ridiculous,” said Gul Akhmal, another journalist from Kandahar. “Every time there is a suicide blast, the Taliban spokesmen claim to have killed scores of foreign troops, but if you go on the site of the explosion you will see that their information is not correct. Often times, the only dead person is the suicide bomber.”

 

     Ahmadullah Ishaq stroked his scraggy beard meditatively and murmured: “This is a very sad day. Our job has always been dangerous but now it’s getting worse and worse.” Gul Akhmal attempted to cheer up his colleague and leaping out of his chair with his index finger lifted towards the ceiling, he said: “Ahmadullah, start writing, joint statement by all Afghan journalists: from now on we will kill all the Taliban.” But despite the wild sense of humor of Gul Akhmal, the journalists feel gloomy and hopeless. The prisoner exchange that led to the liberation of Mastrogiacomo, the protracted detention of Adjmal, and his final execution, brought about a direct confrontation between the Taliban and all Afghan journalists. “We have become moving targets,” said Mohammad Wali, a reporter who works for a Kandahari radio station. “We cannot go back, so we might as well get used to it.” And when the journalists are ready to go home, they say to each other, “see you soon, hopefully.” Yet, none of them is willing to renounce their career. Before getting inside his car, Mohammad Wali told me: “Journalism is my life, it’s my pride and nobody can take it away from me. I’m not scared.”

 

 

 

[The names of the Kandahari journalists have been changed to protect their identity]