JALALABAD: Akhtar Munir, an official with the Pakistani embassy in Kabul, said its consulate in Jalalabad was assisting the Pakistani journalist who was sentenced to four years in jail.

He said the journalist, Faizullah Khan, would appeal against the verdict.

“The Afghan government has been approached at various levels to help in releasing the journalist,” he added.

An Afghan court had sentenced Khan to four years in jail for “contacting terrorists”, officials said Wednesday.

Govt urged to get reporter freed

Faizullah Khan, a reporter with the ARY news channel, was arrested in April by Afghan security forces in Nangarhar province near the border with Pakistan after contacting the Pakistani Taliban.

“We have found photos of him showing him with a gun among terrorists,“ Wafiullah Usmani, the head of the national security court of Nangarhar, told AFP.

"He is accused of contacting terrorists. He did not have any travel documents on him when he was arrested."

Khan was arrested with two members of the Pakistani Taliban on the Afghan side of the border, he said. The sentence was passed on July 9.

Ahmad Zai Abdulzai, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the journalist was arrested for “threatening national security”.