Kabul:
Afghan journalists have blamed international troops for the death of a kidnapped colleague during a rescue operation earlier this week. Afghan journalist Sultan Munadi died in a pre-dawn raid by British commandos. He was killed as he tried to lead the foreign journalist he was working with to safety.
The loss of the colleague has brought the Afghan journalists together. 34-year-old Sultan Munadi worked as a translator for a New York Times writer. Both the journalists had been kidnapped by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan last week while reporting on a NATO bombing.
On Wednesday, during a rescue operation by British commandos, Munadi was killed while The Times reporter survived.
Now his Afghan colleagues have formed a Media Club of Afghanistan and have accused the British troops of acting hastily.
"The MCA holds responsible the international forces for the death of Munadi because they resorted to military action before exhausting other non-violent means," said Farhad Paykar, an Afghan journalist.
The group is also angry that the commandoes whisked away the Times journalist who has dual British-Irish nationality, and retrieved the body of a British commando killed in the raid, but left Munadi's body behind.
While a NATO spokesman has called the deaths "tragic", it has highlighted the plight of local journalists who work alongside foreign journalists, taking equal if not more risks but never get equal pay or the glory of a byline.