WION Pak Journalist Anas Abducted, Assaulted By Taliban

Pak's ambassador Ahmad confirmed he is safe...

Pakistani Journalist Anas Mallick was in Afghanistan to cover the first anniversary of the Taliban's takeover of the country, was abducted and physically assaulted by the Taliban. Pakistan's ambassador to the neighbouring country Mansoor Ahmad Khan confirmed that he is safe.

Taking notes from his career, Mallick, who works for India's WION News Channel, landed in Afghanistan on Wednesday to cover the Taliban's takeover and the recent assassination of al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in a US drone strike.

According to the reports, Anas Mallick going missing began circulating Thursday night, a day after he had reached Afghanistan.

His fellow journalist was one of the first persons to share the news of Anas Mallick's disappearance Thursday night, in a tweet.

She shared that his phones were not reachable and no information about him was available with the Pakistan embassy in Kabul, which had begun conducting preliminary inquiries with the Taliban government.

Later, Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmad Khan confirmed Friday that Mallick has now been located in Kabul and is safe.

"Regarding reports about Pakistani journalist Anas Malik, I have just talked to him on phone briefly. He is in Kabul and safe. The embassy will remain in touch with him," the envoy tweeted.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto also shared the information via Twitter. Mallick also took to Twitter to inform about his safety, saying, "I am back".

As per the report, he was missing the next day after filing a story about the safehouse where the al-Qaeda chief was killed in a drone strike. Anas Mallick had recently interviewed Pakistan Foreign Minister Bhutto on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Council(SCO) meeting in Tashkent.