Pakistani journalist Anas Mallick said on Friday he is back after he disappeared in war-torn Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, for nearly 12 hours.
“I am back,” Anas — who works for international news organisation WION — said in a brief statement on Twitter shortly after Pakistan Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmad Khan confirmed that the journalist was safe and sound.
Following Mallick’s disappearance, journalists and activists expressed concerns and asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, and other officials to ensure his recovery.
“Regarding reports about Pakistani journalist Anas Mallick, I have just talked to him on phone briefly. He is in Kabul and safe. Embassy will remain in touch with him,“ the envoy said on Twitter.
He was in Afghanistan to cover the first anniversary of the Taliban takeover. The journalist reached Kabul on August 3.
Mallick went missing on Thursday after filing a story about the ‘safehouse’ where Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a drone strike.
“We at the Foreign Office are deeply concerned about the disappearance of Anas Mallick, FO correspondent, from Kabul yesterday,” the Foreign Office had said in a statement on Twitter after reports emerged that he was missing.
It had added that the government is in touch with local authorities and the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul for his early and safe return to Pakistan.
