Pashto Speaker Poet & Critic Released From Taliban Detention

Relatives of Ezatullah Zawab told Afghanistan International on Monday that he has been released from Taliban captivity and has reunited with his family.

He went missing on the Kabul-Nangarhar route last month, but it was later revealed that the Taliban officials had detained him.

Zawab is renowned among Pashtuns for his satirical and critical poems.

Sources close to him told Afghanistan International that the poet had posted a poem on Facebook a few days before his arrest, which the Taliban interpreted as a protest against their policies. At that time, the Taliban did not provide details about the reason for his arrest.

Ataullah, Zawab's son, wrote on his Facebook page that his father was detained by the Taliban while travelling to Jalalabad to finalise the new issue of the Meena magazine.

Zawab is a resident of Nangarhar, but after the fall of the previous government and the Taliban taking over power, he went to Kabul, where he owned both Meena magazine and a bookstore.

The Meena magazine, known for its literary, artistic, and humorous content, is very popular among young people. It began publication in 2002.