Taliban fighters threatened aCNN crew with AK-47s inAfghanistan .- CNN's Clarissa Ward reported from
Kabul , where she said fighters followed them and raised guns. - She said they were given space when she told fighters they had permission to report.
A CNN crew was threatened by Taliban fighters with AK-47s in Kabul after the group took over Afghanistan.
CNN footage showed Clarissa Ward, the outlet's chief international correspondent, walking down a street in Kabul with her crew, trailed by Taliban members.
She told the camera that "these Taliban fighters are a little upset with us, so let's keep going," and noted that the crew decided to leave the area and go to their car.
In a voiceover, she pointed out how one fighter can be seen taking the safety off of his AK-47 as he pushed through the crowd.
Watch the footage here:
-Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) August 18, 2021
Ward told the camera: "You can see that some of these Taliban fighters, they're just hopped up on adrenaline, or I don't know what. It's a very dicey situation."
"Suddenly, two other Taliban charge towards us," Ward said in voiceover narration.
The camera footage was jerky and pointed at the ground as the crew reacted.
"You can see their rifle butt, raised to strike producer Brent Swails," Ward said.
"When the fighters are told we have permission to report, they lower their weapons and let us pass."
This was just the second time Ward described her team being threatened by Taliban fighters.
In another report on Wednesday, Ward said that two armed Taliban fighters came up to her producer, Swails, while he was taking video on his iPhone, ready "to pistol-whip him."
"We had to intervene and scream and it was actually another Taliban fighter who came in and said, 'No, no, no, don't do that, they're journalists,'" Ward said.
-Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) August 18, 2021