Sad News: NY Times Reporter Escapes From Taliban

Just when negotiations with the Taliban to acquire Maureen Dowd, Bob Herbert and Frank Rich were moving along, this rogue has to go and escape. Sigh.

A New York Times reporter is free after more than seven months in captivity in Afghanistan and the newspaper says he and an Afghan reporter escaped from the militants holding them by climbing over a wall.

David Rohde and Afghan reporter Tahir Ludin climbed over the wall of a compound in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan, where they were being held captive. The Times says a Pakistani army scout led them to a nearby base, where the two were flown to the U.S. base at Bagram in Afghanistan on Saturday.

More from, of all places, the NY Times.

Mr. Rohde, 41, had traveled to Kabul in early November to work on a book about the history of American involvement in Afghanistan when he was invited to interview a Taliban commander. Before setting out, Mr. Rohde instructed The Times’s bureau in Kabul on whom to notify if he did not return. He also indicated that he believed the interview was important and that he would be all right.