Kidnapped British journalist rescued by US special forces in Afghanistan
September 9th, 2009 - 3:57 pm ICT by ANI
Kunduz (Afghanistan), Sep 9(ANI): British journalist Stephen Farrell, who was working for the New York Times when he was kidnapped in Afghanistan four days ago, has been rescued by a team of US special forces.
Farrell and his colleague Sultan Munadi went missing on Saturday from Afghanistan’s Kunduz province.
“Last night in a US special forces operation in Chardara district, they managed to free Stephen Farrell, but the Afghan journalist Sultan Mohammad [Munadi] was killed by Taliban during the operation,” The Telegraph quoted Mohammad Omar, Kunduz Governor, as saying.
Farrell was rescued after a fierce firefight between the commandos and his captors.
“We were all in a room, the Talibs all ran, it was obviously a raid. We thought they would kill us. We thought should we go out,” Farrell said.
“There were bullets all around us. I could hear British and Afghan voices,” he added.
Further referring to Munadi’s death, Farrell said: “He was so close, he was just two feet in front of me when he dropped.”
The British Ministry of Defence refused to confirm whether British special forces were involved in the operation.
“We do not comment on special forces. All we can say is that it was a Nato operation,” a spokeswoman said. (ANI)
- Afghan scribe's body abandoned to avoid more casualties: NATO - Sep 12, 2009
- Afghan journalists slam NATO for abducted scribe's death - Sep 10, 2009
- British reporter freed, Afghan aide killed in raid (Lead) - Sep 09, 2009
- 41 Taliban militants killed in Afghanistan - May 13, 2010
- Taliban leader involved in NYT journalist Farrell's kidnapping among insurgents arrested in Afghanistan - Oct 05, 2010
- Taliban commander arrested in Afghanistan - Sep 01, 2012
- Coalition forces have killed Taliban leader Mullah Bahador - Jan 01, 2011
- Two US soldiers among 16 killed in Afghanistan - Jun 16, 2010
- Taliban leader killed in Afghanistan - Mar 04, 2012
- Taliban's top-ranking leader killed in Afghanistan - Jan 01, 2011
- Eight killed in Afghanistan clash - Feb 27, 2010
- 24 dead in Afghan poll violence - Sep 18, 2010
- 95 killed in Afghan poll violence (Lead) - Sep 18, 2010
- Taliban stronghold in Afghan province cleared - Jan 27, 2011
- NATO airstrike kills 25 Taliban in Afghanistan (Lead) - May 29, 2010
Tags: british journalist, british ministry of defence, british special forces, bullets, colleague, commandos, firefight, kunduz province, ministry of defence, mohammad omar, nato, nato operation, new york times, spokeswoman, stephen farrell, sultan mohammad, taliban, telegraph, two feet, voices