Hero Brit ex-CIA agent tortured by Taliban handed prestigious veteran's award

24 September 2023 , 19:31

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Anthony Malone was tortured and imprisoned for 190 gruelling days (Image: Anthony stephen Malone)

A former CIA agent who was held hostage and subject to torture for over 190 days by the Taliban has received a prestigious veterans award.

Anthony Stephen Malone, 50, was tortured when held by the Taliban after his capture in 2021, after being caught when undercover. Anthony has now been awarded the Inspiration of the Year award at the English Veterans Awards on Thursday.

The Brit was living in “barbaric” conditions in Kabul after his capture along with a colleague and was beaten horrifically, suffering six fractured ribs, a kidney infection, serious concussion and nerve damage. Anthony, who on more than one occasion was threatened with execution, was held in a 3x3 metre cell with no toilets or sunlight.

But the Taliban eventually released him on June 20, 2022 - after months of trying to force him to give up the passwords on his phone. Anthony bravely refused to do so despite significant torture and threats - as the phone contained the details of the families he was trying to save.

Anthony has served in the forces for decades, and is a former CIA agent (Anthony stephen Malone)

He has spent multiple years helping people in Afghanistan - and continues to do so (Anthony Stephen Malone/MEN MEDIA)

Over a year following his ordeal, Anthony won Bronze in the Lifetime Achievement Award, on top of winning the Inspiration of the Year award. He said he is “honoured and humbled” to have won - and says that as the head of an international committee on counter-human trafficking, he is continuing to help free vulnerable people from Afghanistan and Ukraine.

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During Anthony’s mission with his colleague, they were in constant contact with senior Taliban officials and faced no problems. That is until they encountered “rogue” officials, who imprisoned them without charge despite them having the correct documentation.

The inspirational pair had to sleep on a concrete floor and at first ate rice and beans, with no water. After two weeks, the officials began to torture him for the details on his phone.

But Anthony was aware that if he got through four weeks of the terrible ordeal, all the data on his phone would be deleted due to a self-destruction programme installed on the device. The Taliban offered Anthony a deal in return for turning in other Brits - but the thought "never even crossed my mind for a second", he said.

Anthony was flown home on June 20, 2022 after his release (MEN MEDIA)

"He may have broken my body but not my spirit," Anthony told the Sun about his attempted tormentor. "On a separate occasion I was taken upstairs, pinned to the floor by several members of the Taliban, I was handcuffed at the front and my legs were tied together. They removed my shoes and socks and they whipped the bottom of my feet over 24 times with a hardened rubber hose."

His injuries were so bad that they placed him in solitary confinement for 72 days, and was only allowed to contact a loved one - his fiance, Nicki - after many weeks of torture and imprisonment. They were only afforded a five-minute phone call together.

In a conversation on the phone, Anthony was able to get the message through that he was being tortured - prompting Nicki to contact the Foreign Office. And finally, the release of Anthony and other British prisoners was arranged.

Anthony recalled one of the last days of his release, when Ahmed called him into a room - an official who always had a “personal grudge” against him. "He started a conversation about how evil our country is and he was insulting Britain," Anthony explained.

Anthony has released a tell-all book called Honour Bound (Anthony stephen Malone)

"That's when I've done one of the most stupid things I could have done - I stood up to him and went nose to nose with him in a room full of armed guards and told him to be more respectful towards our country. He got so angry he couldn't speak, he flipped the table over smashing glasses.

“When he calmed down, he said 'your friends are going to leave tomorrow at 2pm and you will stay here'. I stood up, thanked him for letting my friends go and told him 'I look forward to spending more quality time with you.' He didn't take that well. I walked out and I could hear him screaming."

But Anthony learned later it was only a bluff, when Ahmed’s colleagues confirmed he would be released. "I have always been positive, even in the darkest days," Anthony continued. “It's a surreal experience, you have to keep yourself grounded and crack on. You can either curl up in a corner and cry when something happens to you or you could roll up your sleeves and just get on with it."

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Anthony is releasing a book - Honour Bound - in which he describes in raw detail the horrific moments he went through when held hostage and tortured in Kabul.

Alex Croft