Detained by the Taliban

Lynne O’Donnell (WAR correspondent)

WAR correspondent Lynne O’Donnell, who spoke at a Birmingham Press Club lunch in March, returned to Afghanistan last week - and was detained by the Taliban.

Lynne (pictured),who reported from Iraq before working in Afghanistan and was until August 2021 the AP Bureau chief in Kabul for eight years, was back in Afghanistan for the first time since she left on the last commercial flight out before Western forces left.

She had obtained Press accreditation but was detained by the Taliban, punished for her journalism about the country and forced to post that stories she had written in the past about life in Afghanistan, especially for women, were false.

Lynne had thought it necessary to return to the country to see first-hand what the situation is like now.

Despite fears that the borders may be closed preventing her from leaving, Lynne is now out of Afghanistan.

On the day of Lynne’s visit to Birmingham, the Press Club raised £700 for ‘the Frontline Club’ that supports journalists working in the world’s trouble spots.