Taliban assault Afghan journalists who recorded footage of jobless in Kabul
militants have assaulted two journalists working for Afghanistan's amidmounting concernsover the hardlinemovement's clampdown on press freedoms.
Ziar Yaad, a reporter for TOLO news, and his colleague, cameraman Baes Majidi, were recording footage of jobless Afghans in the Shahr-e-Naw district - the city's main commercial hub - for a news segment on rising unemployment in Afghanistan.
Yaad said that the Taliban approached him as they filmed the menin one ofKabul's main squares and seizedhis mobile phone andMajidi's camera, despite the pair presentingtheir reporter badges.
"We showed our reporter badges but they came and slapped us and beat us with their guns. They took my mobile and our work equipment with them,"Yaad said in a statement reported by TOLO.
The incident is at odds TOLO's acquiescence to the Taliban, with a number ofofficials from the movement interviewed on-air.Music and soap operas have also been absentfrom broadcasting schedules.
Saad Mohseni,the CEO of Moby Group, TOLO's owners, was not immediately available for comment when contacted by .
Ahmadulah Wasiq, deputy head of the Taliban's cultural commission, said that theTaliban would investigate the incident to determine "why"it happened.
Following the Taliban takeover of Kabul, TOLO was among the first broadcasters to resume broadcasting with women journalists appearing on screen.
It came after representatives of the group entered TOLO's offices, seizing all government-issued weapons and offering assurances that the compound would be kept safe.
At the time, Mohseni confirmed to that the decision to bring women journalists back on-screen was not the result of specific instructions from the Taliban.
Afghan media workers are among the tens of thousands of Afghans fleeing the country fearingTaliban reprisals for their past work, as part ofone of the largest evacuation airlifts in US history.