Summary Faizullah Khan was detained by Afghan authorities in eastern Nangarhar province in April 2014.
Part - 24: (Intriguing account of a Pakistani journalist captured in Afghanistan for interview of Taliban leadership)
Read Part - 23 here: Five months of Pakistani journalist in Jalalabad prison – XXIII
Jalalabad airport was connected with the jail. This was the reason that gigantic American helicopters, airplanes and every type of drones used to fly over the jail 24 hours. The prisoners had complete knowledge about those drones. They told me that the drone which only comes for the purpose of spying is called unmanned drone whereas the one whose wings are bent down had a missile fixed in it and target someone in Afghanistan or Waziristan. Besides this the drone which had both its wings in upward direction is said to have martyred someone from its missiles.
Wednesday and Saturday were considered the days of Eid in jail as the prisoners’ relatives come to meet them. Like me, dozens of Pakistanis wait for their dear ones but nobody ever came to meet them.
Gigantic American helicopters were used to transfer big containers which was an extremely dangerous task but the Americans will be surely fully prepared for it.
Wednesday and Saturday were considered the days of Eid in jail as the prisoners’ relatives come to meet them. Like me, dozens of Pakistanis wait for their dear ones but nobody ever came for them. The relatives have to go through strict security procedure. Their arms were marked with blue and red markers for their identification.
The meeting day had much familiarity with a festival as the prisoners who were detained for a long time exhibited their hand made goods for sale. The products were of great interest for the outsiders and they also buy them on high rates for their children. The prisoners used to gather a handsome amount from their sale which was also sent to their family members back at home.
Due to the open market of drugs in the jail, many inmates who did not used the drugs before were now addicted to it. Heroin addicted individuals try to steal the visitors of their money or sandals. The safety of the shoes in the prison was a very serious issue.
These meetings were also misused most of the time. Drug smugglers were imprisoned here and they used their women to smuggle heroin. The female members provide those drugs during meeting due to which their business was flourishing day by day. Many women were also caught red-handed after which the detainee was tortured intensely.
Due to the open market of drugs in the jail, many inmates who did not used the drugs before were now addicted to it. Heroin addicted individuals try to steal the visitors of their money or sandals. The safety of the shoes in the prison was a very serious issue.
Every visitor used to bring fruits with them as a result of which much of it was stored from the two-day meeting and was easily eaten throughout the week .
Not only my detention was popular in the jail but the Afghan media had also on-aired my story. This was the reason that the visitors wished to meet me and requested their imprisoned relatives to arrange their meeting with the Pakistani journalist.
Read the Urdu version here: Five months in Jalalabad prison
