Afghan journalists expressed their anger today at the death of a colleague killed during an operation to rescue a New York Times reporter kidnapped by the Taleban. They also complained about the decison by British commandos to leave the man’s body behind.
Sultan Munadi was captured on Saturday while acting as interpreter for the British journalist Stephen Farrell, formerly of The Times. The two men were seized during a reporting trip to a site near Kunduz where up to 125 Afghans were killed during a Nato air strike to destroy two hijacked fuel tankers.
The kidnapping was kept out of the news as negotiators tried to win the men’s release but UK commanders decided to mount an armed operation in the early hours of yesterday during which Mr Munadi and a British soldier serving the Special Forces Support Group were killed.
Whether it can ever be determined who shot whom and the intentions of the combatants, the questions regarding mistaking friends for enemies must be addressed openly.