KABUL: When two Taliban addressed journalists outside the venue of talks to free South Korean hostages last week, it was effectively the militia’s first press conference in Afghanistan in five years.

The images shot around the world, showing members of an extremist group hunted by the US military standing on an Afghan street talking to journalists.

Officials in Ghazni were so angry they later banned photographers and reporters from leaving their hotels, threatening them with detention.

Even without this brazen display, the militia has been able to command headlines with a sophisticated media campaign that some suspect is crafted by Al Qaeda media experts.

Ironically, this new-found expertise comes from a movement that banned television, photographs, video and the internet during its five years in government.

“The Taliban are now effectively plugged into media. Following the example ahead of last week’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, the Taliban sent journalists the message that ‘we are not terrorists’ well before President Hamid Karzai’s speech had hit inboxes saying they are.

“The Taliban are no longer the Taliban of five years ago,” said Afghan journalist and parliamentarian Shukria Barakzai. “They have learned a lot.” The Afghan government’s own weak media strategy was helping the Taliban, she said.

“It’s very easy to access the Taliban, but when you try to contact a government spokesman, it’s very hard to reach him. Either you find their phones off or they’re not available,” Barakzai said.

The government’s annoyance at the Taliban’s place in the media led to an attempt last year to issue “guidelines” to try to force Afghan media to stop reporting on the insurgents — a move journalists ignored.—AFP