Taliban Spokesman Gives Away His Hiding Spot on Twitter
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid made a series of tweets last week which accidentally geolocated him to Sindh, Pakistan. By Adam Epstein
One prominent member of the Taliban might want to consider finding a new place of refuge.
Zabiullah Mujahid , a longtime spokesman for the Afghan group, made a series of tweets last week which accidentally geolocated him to Sindh, Pakistan.
نورستان : کامديش کې ۳ پوستې فتحه او ۱۴ عسکر ووژل شول:
http://t.co/CzDLvRWS7E
— zabihullahmujahid (@zabihmujahid)
October 2, 2014
خبــــــــــــــــــــرونه:
https://t.co/SJuo16bY44
— zabihullahmujahid (@zabihmujahid)
October 3, 2014
د نیکمرغه لوي اختر د رارسیدو په مناسبت دعالیقدر امیرالمومنین دمبارکۍ پیغام(ږغیز):
https://t.co/hz94Eai6k3
— zabihullahmujahid (@zabihmujahid)
October 3, 2014
Mujahid quickly denied that he was in Pakistan and said the geolocation was part of an “enemy plot.”
The Taliban is active on social media—it used to tweet regularly under the handle @alemarahweb, though that account doesn’t exist anymore. Mujahid has nearly 6,000 followers.
(Related: How the Pentagon Can Track the Taliban 5 )
Social media has a history of outing the location of people who’d probably prefer to remain hidden. This summer, in a shrewd act of investigative Instagram reporting, BuzzFeed discovered that a Russian soldier was operating inside Ukraine .
“Mujahid” might actually be a combination of several different people. Here’s one of them, with his back turned to the camera, speaking to CNN in 2009:
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