New York, March 4, 2026—The Taliban must return control of the privately owned Rah-e-Farda TV station to its owner, permit the broadcaster to resume operations, and immediately end their systematic repression of independent media in Afghanistan, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
On February 28, Taliban intelligence officers raided Rah-e-Farda TV’s office in the capital, Kabul, verbally abused staff, and forced the station off air, according to the exiled Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC), and a former journalist at the station familiar with the incident, who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisal.
“The Taliban must immediately return Rah-e-Farda TV’s seized assets and allow the station to resume broadcasting without interference,” said CPJ Asia-Pacific Program Director Beh Lih Yi. “This is not the first time Taliban intelligence officials have forcibly taken over a media outlet in Afghanistan, and this pattern of intimidation to silence independent reporting must end.”
Taliban officials expelled employees from the premises before taking control of the building, the journalist told CPJ, adding that the station was closed and its assets confiscated by order of Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Khubaib Ghufran, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture, wrote on the social platform X that the broadcaster had been forced off air because of comments made by its owner, Mohammad Mohaqiq, about an escalating conflict between the Taliban and Pakistan.
Fighting erupted last week after Islamabad carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan over allegations that Taliban harbors militants executing attacks on Pakistan from its soil.
In 2023, the Taliban closed and seized another privately owned radio station, Kawoon Ghag, in the eastern province of Laghman, alleging that it had received funding from international nonprofit organizations.
Taliban Deputy Spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat did not reply to CPJ’s text messages requesting comment.