(PPF/IFEX) – On 9 December 2001, Robert Fisk, foreign correspondent for the London-based daily “Independent”, was assaulted by a mob of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, near the border town of Chaman. He suffered injuries to his head, face and hand before being saved by a local religious leader. According to press reports, Fisk had been […]
(PPF/IFEX) – On 9 December 2001, Robert Fisk, foreign correspondent for the London-based daily “Independent”, was assaulted by a mob of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, near the border town of Chaman. He suffered injuries to his head, face and hand before being saved by a local religious leader.
According to press reports, Fisk had been travelling to Chaman when his car overheated and broke down close to the village of Kali Abdullah, home to thousands of refugees who have fled across the border from Afghanistan. He got out of the vehicle and was attempting to push the car to the side of the road when a group of 40 to 50 people gathered and started beating him. They hit his face and head with stones. His glasses were broken and he was covered in blood. Fisk fought back and managed to knock several of his attackers to the ground.
He was rescued by a religious leader who forced the mob back and guided him to the Red Cross, where he was given first aid.
Fisk wrote about the ordeal in the “Independent”, showing remarkable understanding towards his assailants. He said that even as he was being attacked he understood that he could not blame his assailants and added: “In fact, if I were the Afghan refugees of Kila Abdullah, close to the Afghan-Pakistan border, I would have done just the same to Robert Fisk, or any other Westerner I could find.” He said, “Many of these Afghans, so we were to learn, were outraged by what they had seen on television of the Mazar-i-Sharif massacres, of the prisoners killed with their hands tied behind their backs.”
