Summary Faizullah Khan was detained by Afghan authorities in eastern Nangarhar province in April 2014.
Part - 25: (Intriguing account of a Pakistani journalist captured in Afghanistan for interview of Taliban leadership)
Read Part - 24 here: Five months of Pakistani journalist in Jalalabad prison – XXIV
One of the positive aspects of Afghans was that they had a caring heart for foreign prisoners. This was the reason that my clothes were taken by the visitors for washing and I was provided with clean and ironed clothes on the next meeting. They used to tell me that special prayers were made for me as I had not committed any sin by crossing the border and as far as the matter of interview is concerned, it is the job of the journalists to do such a task.
In Guantanamo Bay jail, the actual hooliganism was conducted by those heroin users who were present there in a large number. They used to roam about in the jail carrying blades in their mouth and were always awaiting a chance to engage into a fight with the inmates so that the others gather there to solve the dispute, and they in this instance steal their pockets.
In Afghanistan many other journalists used to come in the days of revolution and afterwards and for them such interviews were a part of routine. In my case, Afghans had an understanding that the case had become more complex due to sensitive relations between Hamid Karzai and Pakistan, however; after Dr Ashraf Ghani was elected president, relations between both the countries improved substantially with good prospects in the future.
In Guantanamo Bay jail, the actual hooliganism was conducted by those heroin users who were present there in a large number. They used to roam about in the jail carrying blades in their mouth and were always awaiting a chance to engage into a fight with the inmates so that the others gather there to solve the dispute, and they in this instance steal their pockets.
These heroin users were so dangerous that they used to cut the face and arms of others with blade in case of fight and if necessary they would also harm themselves in order to prove their own innocence. I was safe from any such situation.
Many Pakistanis were also detained in the jail and were classified into three different ranks. In the first rank atleast 60 belonged to various TTP groups and many alongwith their families had obtained political asylum in Afghanistan due to the ongoing operation in Pakistan. But they were also detained here by the intelligence authorities.
These heroin users were so dangerous that they used to cut the face and arms of others with blade in case of fight and if necessary they would also harm themselves in order to prove their own innocence. I was safe from any such situation.
The second rank belonged to those Pakistanis who came with Afghan Taliban for a fight and were later arrested whereas the third rank consisted of those who came to Afghanistan through proper visa but were imprisoned due to some issue in their documents. These prisoners also include some of those who besides Khyber Pakhtunkhwa belonged to Punjab and Azad Kashmir.
They were forced to stay here in worst condition and had to fill water and make food for the whole block to meet their expenses. The prisoners used to say that they had visited Afghanistan on visa many times in the past. Sometimes the detentions were made due to the illegal work done by the agent as a result of which the prisoners had to rot in jail for many coming years.
Read the Urdu version here: Five months in Jalalabad prison
