New York, December 5, 2024—Dozens of Taliban agents from the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) raided the offices of private broadcaster Arezo TV on December 4 in the capital, Kabul, questioned staff members for four hours, and detained seven journalists and media workers. Woman journalists were expelled from the premises, and the network’s offices were sealed, according to a journalist familiar with the situation in Kabul, who spoke to CPJ anonymously, citing fear of reprisal.
“The raid on Arezo TV and expulsion of its women journalists shows the Taliban’s troubling commitment to cracking down on Afghan independent media, as it works to silence free voices and restrict the public’s access to information,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The Taliban must immediately and unconditionally release the seven detained journalists and media workers and permit the channel to resume broadcasting without further interference.”
The journalist told CPJ that the Taliban accused Arezo TV journalists during the raid of collaborating with and reporting for exiled media outlets operating outside Afghanistan. The current whereabouts of the detained journalists remain unknown.
Saif ul Islam Khyber, a spokesperson for the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, told media in an audio message that the group sealed Arezo TV’s offices to uphold “Islamic values, prevent misuse of media outlets, and strengthen social order.”
Khyber said Arezo TV was involved in dubbing foreign soap operas, purportedly with the backing of exiled media organizations.
Editor’s note: The headline was corrected to fix a typo.