KABUL, Afghanistan — A second Afghan journalist detained by NATO coalition forces for allegedly spreading Taliban propaganda has been freed after an outcry from media workers and a call from President Hamid Karzai for their quick release.
Rahmatullah Naikzad, who has worked for Al-Jazeera and as a freelancer for The Associated Press, was detained by coalition forces in the eastern town of Ghazni. Naikzad told the AP he was released Friday and has returned home.
Earlier in the day, Al-Jazeera cameraman Mohammad Nadir, who was arrested Wednesday in the southern city of Kandahar, was also released. The two were among three Afghan journalists detained over the past week — Naikzad and Nadir by the coalition and Afghan security forces, and the third by the Afghan intelligence service.