(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 26 September 2001 RSF press release: Journalist Faheem Dasty was seriously injured during attacks against commandant Shah Massoud In the suicide bombing which cost the life of anti-Taliban opposition leader Shah Massoud, journalist Faheem Dasty, director of the Ariana news agency, contributor to the French television station France 2 […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 26 September 2001 RSF press release:
Journalist Faheem Dasty was seriously injured during attacks against commandant Shah Massoud
In the suicide bombing which cost the life of anti-Taliban opposition leader Shah Massoud, journalist Faheem Dasty, director of the Ariana news agency, contributor to the French television station France 2 and Reporters Without Borders’ correspondent in northern Afghanistan, was seriously injured. He is being treated at the Douchambe hospital (Tajikistan). His life is not in danger, but he is suffering from several burns.
Faheem Dasty sent this statement to Reporters Without Borders: “On 9 September, at half past twelve, I was in one of the Islamic government’s Foreign Ministry’s reception rooms (Massoud’s headquarters, Khawja Bahauddin, Takhar province), with two Arabs holding Belgian passports, who said they were journalists who had come to interview Ahmed Shah Massoud. I was there to cover the interview for my news agency. Massoud Khalili, our ambassador to India, and Mohammad Asem, a Foreign Ministry official, were also present. While Shah Massoud prepared for the interview, an explosion went off and the room was engulfed in flames. Shah Massoud was facing the journalist holding the camera and the other Arab was less than a meter away from the commander. Massoud Khalili and Mohammad Asem sat side by side on a sofa. I was behind the two journalists. The bomb was tied around the waist of the pseudo-journalist, who was taking pictures. The blast and the shrapnel hit Massoud directly. The suicide bomber was sliced in two. The second Arab was killed by security guards as he tried to escape. Shah Massoud and Mohammad Asem died as martyrs, Massoud Khalili and I were injured.”
Journalist Faheem Dasty and cameraman Youssef Nasarn have been running the Ariana news agency, based in the region under anti-Taliban control, since 1996. Faheem Dasty, former information editor for the Afghan daily Paktar, fled Kabul when Mullah Omar’s people arrived. He has written several articles and stories on the war between Shah Massoud’s troops and the Taliban, as well as on Pakistani support for the “theology students.” He also contributes to the only newspaper published in the Panjshir Valley, The Mujahadin Message.
During a visit to France in August 2001, the Ariana team signed a contract with the French television station France 2, and Faheem Dasty became Reporters Without Borders’ correspondent in northern Afghanistan.
