NBC News correspondent Richard Engel and his four-person crew have been released unharmed after five days in the captivity of the pro-Assad government militia known as Shabiha. “It is good to be here. I’m very happy that we’re able to do this live shot this morning,” Engel, NBC’s chief foreign correspondent, said on “Today.”
Engel and his team were travelling into northwest Syria, escorted by members of the Syrian Free Army, when they were ambushed by what they described as “masked” and “heavily armed” men. As Engel and the NBC crew were put into a waiting container truck, one of the rebel fighters who had been their escort was executed on the spot. For the next five days, Engels and his team were shuffled around between various locations. They were not harmed physically but tormented psychologically.
“They made us choose which one of us would be shot first, and when we refused, there were mock shootings. They pretended to shoot Ghazi several times,” Engel said, referring to producer Ghazi Balkiz. “When you’re blindfolded and then they fire the gun up in the air, it can be a very traumatic experience.”
“I made good with my Maker. I made good with myself. I was prepared to die, many times.” said cameraman John Kooistra.
Back in the US, concern was mounting at NBC as the station attempted to locate their missing coworkers. While rumors had circulated on social media, NBC and other news agencies refrained from making any public statements about the kidnapping, presumably in the hopes that minimal media attention would incite Engel’s captors to release them.
Their captors openly told them they were to be traded for four Iranian agents and two Lebanese Shabiha members who had been captured by the rebels. When Engel and the rest of the group were being moved yet again by car, they approached the rebel-controlled Ahrar al-Sham checkpoint. Hazem al-Shami, a spokesman and fighter for Ahrar al-Sham, said he and other rebels had been on the lookout since the journalists were kidnapped and had set up the checkpoint for the purpose of trying to locate them. A gunfight ensued, in which two of Engel’s captors were killed. “When they saw we’re searching cars, they started to shoot at us,” Shami said in an interview on Skype. “So we attacked them until the kidnappers ran away, and the hostages stayed in the car.”
Engel and his team then stayed with the rebels for one night before being taken back to Turkey.
