The Taliban have released two Pakistani journalists who were detained for several days in southern Afghanistan after entering Taliban-controlled territory without permission, a purported spokesman for the hard-line Islamic militia said on Sunday. Syed Saleem Shahzad, from The Star newspaper in Karachi, and Qamar Yousafzai, a reporter with various newspapers in Quetta, were last heard from in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province on November 19. They were released on Sunday morning after being held for entering Taliban controlled territory without permission, Mohammed Hanif, a purported Taliban spokesman, said in a Pashto language e-mail sent to The Associated Press. The men were released on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Helmand, Hanif later told the AP by phone. “They had been kept for two or three days as guests,” Hanif said. “Journalists must contact mujahedeen before entering their areas so their safety is ensured. They would not face any problem if they informed mujahideen.”