New York, September 2, 2008--A journalist who had been kidnapped by a local Taliban group was killed when a Pakistani airstrike hit the private jail where he was being held in the Swat Valley in Pakistan's tumultuous North West Frontier Province on Friday, according to local news reports citing a Taliban spokesman.
Militants abducted Abdul Aziz Shaheen, who worked for local newspapers including Urdu-language daily Azadi, on August 27, according to local news reports. The reason for the abduction is not known. A local press freedom group, the Pakistan Press Foundation, said the Taliban were angered by reports Shaheen had written about their activities. Shaheen's car was set on fire a week before he was abducted, although it was not clear whether local Taliban were also responsible for that attack, the group reported.