Kidnapping of David Rohde

David Stephenson Rohde, a journalist for The New York Times, and two associates were kidnapped by members of the Taliban in November 2008. Rohde was in Afghanistan doing research for a book. After being held captive for eight months, in June 2009, Rohde and one of his associates escaped and made their way to safety.

During his captivity, Rohde's colleagues at The New York Times appealed to other members of the news media not to publish any stories reporting on the abduction. Their intentions in doing so were to maximize Rohde's chances for survival and/or release.

On November 10, 2008, Rohde, his interpreter, Tahir Ludin, and their driver, Asadullah "Asad" Mangal, were abducted outside Kabul while Rohde was researching a book about the history of United States' involvement in the country. He had been invited to interview a Taliban commander in Logar Province near Kabul. The interview had been arranged by Ludin, but the two men never made it to their destination; the Taliban commander called The New York Times to report that they had not arrived. The kidnappers initially insisted on no publicity and issued a series of difficult and unclear demands, including the release of Taliban prisoners being held in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, and the payment of ransoms of tens of millions of dollars. They later released at least two videos showing Rohde, which were sent to Western news outlets and the New York Times. The kidnappers also sent letters and audiotapes as well as making contact by telephone and via the Red Cross.

It is believed that Rohde and his colleagues were being held by the network of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a warlord and former Mujahideen fighter against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Haqqani has been accused by the US of ordering beheadings and suicide bombings, and has a $5-million bounty on his head. The same network is believed to have been responsible for the kidnapping of the Channel 4 reporter Sean Langan in 2008. The Haqqani network is closely allied with the Taliban and shares many of its values.

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