Mohammad Arif Hajran, a veteran Afghan journalist, was released from Taliban detention on Friday, August 22, 2026, after nearly two years behind bars. A Taliban military court had sentenced him and fellow journalist Ahmad Kamran to 10 years in prison each in September 2024.
Taliban agents arrested both journalists in Khairkhana, Kabul, in July 2024. The military court charged Hajran with photographing Taliban checkpoints and forces and sending the images to a publication outside Afghanistan.
Hajran, a native of Panjshir residing in Kabul, was a member of the Afghan Journalists Union and editor of the weekly "Haft Khan." Press freedom organizations had condemned his arrest and sentencing and repeatedly called for his release.
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