KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The British journalist recently freed in a NATO military operation described his Taliban hostage-takers as "hopelessly inept," and praised his Afghan colleague who died in the rescue. Journalists carry flowers to the grave of Afghan journalist Sultan Munadi in Kabul on Thursday. New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell described his four days in captivity in a blog on the newspaper's Web site, posted late Wednesday just hours after he was freed. Taliban militants kidnapped Farrell and Afghan journalist, Sultan Munadi, on Saturday. During a pre-dawn raid Wednesday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force plucked Farrell to safety, but did not retrieve the body of Munadi, who died during a fierce firefight between troops and Taliban militants. A British commando was also killed, as were a woman and child.
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Freed British journalist: Taliban hostage-takers were "hopelessly inept"
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New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell was freed by NATO forces in Afghanistan
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Afghan journalist killed with British commando; woman, child die in crossfire
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Media Club of Afghanistan: Action "reckless and double-standard behavior"
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Farrell said he and his colleagues believed the attack, which destroyed two tankers, would be "a major controversy involving allegations of civilian deaths against @placeholder claims that the dead were Taliban."
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All of a sudden, some of the villagers shouted, "@placeholder" and their driver fled with the keys, he said.
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Afghanistan
"It became a tour of a Taliban-controlled district of @placeholder, and that control appeared total," he said.
Stephen Farrell
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Stephen Farrell
The captors operated with relative impunity and, at times, "their operational security was hopelessly inept" -- using @placeholder's name over their mobile phones "heedless of who was, almost certainly, monitoring the calls."
Stephen Farrell
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Stephen Farrell
At the sound of gunfire, @placeholder reared back and dived into a wet ditch.
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After a few minutes, he heard @placeholder-accented voices and then screamed, "British hostage," flashing a camera light from the ditch.
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Farrell said he was then taken onboard the aircraft, as the soldiers, most of them @placeholder, carried on some celebrations.