Ex-BBC journalist targeted by Taliban stuck in Afghanistan

An Afghan reporter who worked with the BBC for years is trying to flee Taliban persecution but cannot reach Kabul airport, according to reports.

The journalist, whose name has been withheld, is a "high value" target for the Taliban, according to Jen Wilson, chief operating officer of the New York-based Army Week Association.

Taliban members went to the reporter's house last Tuesday to kill them, Wilson told the Evening Standard.

“The BBC is doing everything it can to secure the safety of our teams in Afghanistan,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“All the relevant expertise and resources across the BBC and with external parties are currently dedicated to this task,” he added.

The targeting of the reporter comes despite Taliban promises of an amnesty for those who worked for Western companies and the US-backed former government.

Wilson, has been working with other campaigners as part of a coordinated online campaign to help get Afghans out of the country.

The campaign, called #DigitalDunkirk, brings together people with military contacts and puts them in touch with people who are in acute danger from the Taliban.

“[The Taliban] like it when American TV journalists are on the ground because then they get to speak to the West but they hate indigenous journalists, especially ones that were in bed with allied forces,” Wilson told the Press Association news agency.