KABUL (AFP) – Two Afghan journalists detained by the Taliban earlier this week were released Wednesday, the news editor of their media organization said.
On Monday Ariana TV reporters Waris Hasrat and Aslam Hijab were detained by the Taliban, according to the Afghan Media Association, a newly founded journalists’ rights group.
A Taliban spokesman said he did not have any information on the pair, but both the United Nations and Amnesty International blamed the group for their abduction.
Ali Asghari, news editor of Ariana News, told AFP both had been released “after being found guiltless”.
He said no further details could be released for security reasons.
Their arrest came two weeks after a pair of female activists went missing after participating in a Kabul protest calling for women’s rights.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed concern for them and four of their relatives, who all remain missing.
The Taliban have denied any knowledge of their whereabouts and say they are investigating the matter.
In another development in the country, some public universities opened in Afghanistan on Wednesday for the first time since the Taliban seized power, with a trickle of women attending classes that officials said would be segregated by sex.
Most secondary schools for girls and all public universities were shuttered when the Taliban stormed back to power.
“It’s a moment of joy for us that our classes have started,” Zarlashta Haqmal, who studies law and political science at Nangarhar University, told AFP.
“But we are still worried that the Taliban might stop them.”
One analyst said the reopening of universities was a “critical marker” on the Taliban’s road to international recognition.
Officials said universities in Laghman, Nangarhar, Kandahar, Nimroz, Farah and Helmand provinces opened Wednesday.
More were scheduled to resume operations elsewhere in the country later this month.