US reporter escapes Taliban captors
NEW YORK - A New York Times reporter kidnapped by the Taliban and held for seven months in the rugged mountainous region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border escaped Friday, along with a local Afghan reporter, by climbing over a wall and finding a nearby Pakistani army base, according to the newspaper, US officials, and the journalist’s family.
David Rohde, 41, was taken captive Nov. 10 along with local reporter Tahir Ludin, 35, and their driver while Rohde was researching a book on Afghanistan. News organizations did not report on the abduction at the request of the Times and Rohde’s relatives, who feared that publication of the news could endanger the lives of the captives.
Rohde was kidnapped after he, Ludin, and their driver, Assadullah Mangal, 24, set out by car for a prearranged interview with a local Taliban commander. Rohde, described by friends and colleagues as a brave but cautious reporter who always measured risks before traveling, told colleagues at the newspaper’s Kabul bureau that he expected to be fine. But as a precaution, he left instructions on whom to call if he did not return.
The reporter, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, was beginning work on a book about the history of US involvement in Afghanistan. He had been held captive in 1995 in Bosnian Serb territory while reporting for the Christian Science Monitor on mass killings at the height of the Bosnian war.
The Times said Rohde and Ludin escaped by climbing over a wall of the compound where they were being held. They walked until they came upon a Pakistani soldier, near Miran Shah, the main town of North Waziristan.
