Afghan journalists, who had the experience of being imprisoned, say that they were imprisoned in the same cells as Islamic State (IS) also known as Daesh members. A local journalist in the north of the country who was recently arrested and tortured by the Taliban said: “No professional has been humiliated to this extent,” referring to the journalism professionalism.
Afghan journalists have reported hundreds of cases of torture, arbitrary arrests and increased censorship in the past three years.
They say they are often arrested for covering attacks by opposition groups or writing about discrimination against women. Some of them have announced that they were imprisoned in the same cell with members of the Daesh group.
“My colleagues and I no longer want to continue this profession. New restrictions are announced every day. If we cover attacks or issues related to women, we face phone threats, subpoenas or arrests,” a journalist who was recently arrested and beaten told a foreign media.
At the time of Taliban takeover in 2021, Afghanistan had 8,400 media workers, 1,700 of whom were women. But according to media sources, now only 5100 journalists are working, of which 560 are women.
Taliban asks journalists to respect Islamic values, the country’s national interests while reporting.
One of the officials of organizations supporting journalists, who wished to be recognized by his pine name, Samullah, said “since the Taliban returned to power, we have recorded about 450 cases of violations of journalists’ rights, including arrests, threats, physical violence and torture.”
However, Hayatullah Mohajer Farahi, the Deputy Minister of Information and Culture, said that the media is allowed to operate in Afghanistan, but asked that they should respect “Islamic values, the country’s national interests, and its culture and traditions.”
Last month, new rules were applied to the media’s political talk shows. According to the editor-in-chief of media outlets, based on the new decision of the Taliban, the guests must be selected from the approved list of this group, the topics must be approved in close coordination, and criticism of the regime is prohibited. These programs should not be played live until the recordings are checked and “weaknesses” are removed. An employee of Afghanistan’s state radio and television said that women are no longer allowed to work as reporters.
In Helmand province, it is forbidden to broadcast women’s voices on TV and radio. Also, monitoring of journalists in social networks continues and media continue to operate through self-censorship.
The implementation of new law introduced by the Taliban ministry for the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice, has also added to the worries of journalists. This law prohibits taking pictures of living creatures and also prohibits women from speaking in public.
Taliban arrests key Daesh members responsible for recent attack that kills many
Taliban said that they have captured key members of the Daesh terrorist group, including a citizen from Tajikistan — they were responsible for recent deadly attacks across Afghanistan.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the Taliban’s special forces arrested key members of Daesh claimed that a Kabul suicide bombing that left six people dead last month.
Though, he didn’t specify the arrested number of Daesh members, but said that the Daesh suicide bomber “infiltrated Afghanistan from a training camp in Pakistan.” He also claimed that other members of Daesh were arrested in a series of raids but said all of them recently returned from there (camp in Pakistan.)
Mujahid said that the Daesh group “have established new operational bases and training camps” in Pakistan, saying “from these new bases, they continue to orchestrate attacks, both within Afghanistan and in other countries.”
