Mastrogiacomo reported on events such as police operation Mani Pulite, the Marta Russo murder and the Priebke affair.
The events that followed are shown in the documentary Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi and recounted in Mastrogiacomo's book, Days of Fear.
After Italy had refused, war surgeon and Emergency founder Gino Strada contacted the Taliban in an attempt to free Mastrogiacomo.
The Taliban made a video of the Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, his driver Sayed Agha and his colleague Ajmal Naqshbandi, kneeling blindfolded before gun-wielding militants.
It then showed Agha being beheaded after which a shaken Mastrogiacomo made an impassioned appeal to Italian authorities to "do something," while underlining that the situation was "very difficult".