The host Tassos Doussis He spoke about his career in journalism and described to the Gregory Arnautoglou the thrilling adventure he experienced in Pakistan, as war correspondent, which nearly cost him his very life.
Specifically, he revealed that he had experienced, as he put it, a mock execution by Taliban in Afghanistan.
“I’ve been to almost all of them (the war zones)—Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Albania, Iran. I started out as a simple freelance correspondent, a street reporter. Over the years, I became a war correspondent and experienced some of the most intense years of my life. To give you an idea, I spent six months in Pakistan back in 2000. I had the most life-changing experience of my life back then in Pakistan, when we passed through the Afghanistan. It was the hardest moment of my life.
It completely changed my life, and that’s when I stopped working as a war correspondent, gave up freelance journalism, and switched to travel shows. We’d been in Pakistan for six months when suddenly the border opened and we entered Afghanistan. We were part of a large convoy of journalists, passing through on our way to Kabul. Then, for some reason, we got stuck in a car. And just as we were driving along, an Afghan man ran up to us and said, “Stop! They’re killing journalists further down the road.”.
We kept driving, and just as we were heading there, we suddenly ran into an ambush; a group of Taliban stopped us and suddenly took the car keys. They surrounded us, threw me out of the car, pinned me down, and told me, “Say your prayers—you’re going to die!” That Taliban thug actually pulled the trigger. No joke—for months on end, I’d pinch myself to see if I was still alive. They’d already killed four journalists before us.”.
“I take things easy now; my whole outlook has changed, and since I’ve solved all my problems, I’m now having the time of my life. And the trips I take are a personal joy that I share with my viewers. I don’t worry about what will happen, how it will happen, or if it will happen at all. I do it the same way, but through my own mindset—I’ve reached a whole new level,” he added.
