Kosuke Tsuneoka, the 40-year-old Japanese freelance journalist reportedly being held captive by a Taliban group in northern Afghanistan, is known for his reporting in war-ravaged countries around the world, including Chechnya, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territory.
Tsuneoka was held by an armed group in Georgia for about five months in 2001 after spending time with guerrillas from Chechnya, according to his blog.
In 2004, several days after he entered the Ingushetia area in Russia, he was taken into custody by the Federal Security Service — the Russian secret police — and kept in close reach for about two weeks.
The Nagasaki native converted to Islam about 10 years ago and regularly attends a mosque in Tokyo, according to another freelance journalist who has met him several times in Tokyo, the Palestinian territories and Baghdad.
"(Tsuneoka) approaches guerrillas in those countries, gets to know them, and reports about them," said the Tokyo-based journalist, who asked not to be named.
"Like any other journalist, he likes to be where news is happening, and meet local people there," he said.
Tsuneoka speaks Russian and Arabic. Afghanistan was once occupied by the Soviet Union, and a lot of Muslims know Arabic, so Tsuneoka may be able to communicate with some members of the Taliban, his colleague said.
"(Tsuneoka) knows how much distance he should maintain from the Taliban so as not to be taken captive . . . but he might have just crossed the line," he said.
Tsuneoka wrote on his blog that he entered Afghanistan on March 18. His last post on his Twitter account on April 1 said, "I'm visiting Taliban's liberated district and came to this place with reception."
His Afghan interpreter was reportedly released soon after they were taken prisoner.