Fact Check: Did Taliban kill Tolo news journalist in Afghanistan?
A post claiming Taliban has killed a Tolo News journalist in Afghanistan is viral on social media.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 30 Aug 2021 12:15 PM GMT
Hyderabad: A post claiming Taliban has killed a Tolo News journalist in Afghanistan is viral on social media.
"#Breaking : Afghanistan: Reporter from Afghanistan's first independent news channel, #ToloNews killed by the Taliban in the capital city of Kabul, the media group reported (sic)," reads the Facebook post.
The link to the post can be viewed here.
Click here to view similar claims.
Fact Check:
The claim is false.
NewsMeter searched the web for news reports about the journalist's death. We found a report by NDTV dated August 26, 2021. "Reports of Death "False", was "Beaten by Taliban": Afghan Reporter", the headline of the report read.
The report mentioned that shortly after Tolo News, Afghanistan's first independent news channel, confirmed the death of its reporter Ziar Yaad Khan in Kabul, the man tweeted saying the report is false. Khan said he was beaten by the Taliban in Kabul and was hit at gunpoint.
We checked Tolo's Twitter handle and found that the tweet about his death has been removed. The clarification that he and his cameraman were beaten, not killed has been updated on the official Twitter handle of Tolo news.
We also found a tweet on Khan's Twitter handle, in which he refuted the claim about his death.
"Some people have spread the news of my death which is false. The Taliban got out of an armored Land Cruiser and hit me at gunpoint," reads the tweet.
Evidently, the claim is false.
