The news agency ANI tweeted that a TOLO News reporter was killed by the Taliban in Kabul and several other journalists also tweeted the same attributing the news to TOLO News. TOLO News is a television network of Afghanistan.
The news is misleading, the Journalist Zair Khan Yaad working for TOLO News himself clarified in a tweet that he was beaten by the Taliban in Kabul and the news of his death is false.
The tweet of ANI reads: “TOLO news reporter killed by the Taliban in Kabul: TOLO News”.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
Arunima, deputy editor of CNN-News18 tweeted: “After #DanishSiddique one more journalist killed by Taliban. @Tolonews reporter @ziaryaad killed by the Taliban in Kabul. Ziar Yaad, his cameraman allegedly beaten by the Taliban while reporting on poverty, unemployment at Haji Yaqub intersection in Kabul.”
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
Geeta Mohan, foreign affairs editor of India Today tweeted: “Terrible news! TOLOnews reporter @ziaryaad killed by the Taliban in Kabul. Ziar Yaad, his cameraman beaten by the Taliban while reporting on poverty, unemployment, at Haji Yaqub intersection in Kabul.”
(Source: Archive/Screenshot)
Ashish Singh, associate editor with ABP news tweeted: “Tragic news of a Journalist killed in #Afghanistan”.
(Source: Archive/Screenshot)
FactO Check:
The misreporting about the death of the journalist in India happened because of the error in Google translation of a tweet done in the Persian language by the TOLO News. The English translation of the tweet reads: “TOLOnews reporter killed by Taliban in Kabul”.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
However, we checked the link of the article published by TOLO News tweeted along with the news. The English translation of the title of the article reads: “A TOLOnews reporter was beaten by the Taliban in Kabul”. The article confirms Ziar Yad and the cameraman were beaten by the Taliban for unknown reasons. They were reporting on poverty and unemployment at the Haji Yaqub intersection in Kabul.
(Source: Tolo News/Screenshot)
We also found a tweet in English by the said media organisation which confirms that their reporter and cameraman was beaten by the Taliban.
TOLOnews Reporter, Cameraman Beaten by Taliban#Afghanistan https://t.co/7R2Ky5uGAA pic.twitter.com/TrS3ITrqnv
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) August 26, 2021
Ziar Khan Yaad, the journalist himself clarified in two tweets that the news of his death is false and he was beaten by the Taliban while reporting in Kabul’s New city.
I still don't know why they behaved like that and suddenly attacked me. The issue has been shared with Taliban leaders; however, the perpetrators have not yet been arrested, which is a serious threat to freedom of expression.
— Ziar Khan Yaad (@ziaryaad) August 26, 2021
ANI after having misreported also tweeted the clarification of the Ziar Khan Yaad.
TOLO news reporter Ziar Khan Yaad clarifies over his death reports saying "I was beaten by the Taliban in Kabul's New City while reporting. Some people have spread the news of my death which is false."
— ANI (@ANI) August 26, 2021
Conclusion:
The TOLO News journalist Ziar Khan Yaad wasn’t killed, the misreporting about his death happened because media outlets and journalists fell for the wrong translation by Google.