Taliban intelligence forces detain Afghan journalist Irfanullah Baidar
New York, July 21, 2023 — The Taliban must immediately release journalist Irfanullah Baidar and stop detaining members of the press in Afghanistan, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On July 12, officers with the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence stopped Baidar near the Eidgah Mosque in the eastern city of Jalalabad, covered his head with a sack, and forced him into a vehicle, according to news reports and…
CPJ’s support to exiled journalists jumped 227% in 3 years, reflecting global press freedom crisis
Keep closely connected to your homeland and don’t despair: that is advice Syrian journalist Okba Mohammad said he would offer to Afghan journalists who fled after the August 2021 Taliban takeover. Mohammad knows firsthand the challenges of exile. In 2019, he made a new life in Spain after fleeing the Syrian civil war with CPJ’s…
Taliban detains 4 Afghan journalists in Khost province
New York, May 9, 2023 – The Taliban must immediately release four journalists recently detained for their work and cease harassing members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Monday, May 8, the provincial directorate of the Taliban-controlled Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in the eastern…
Taliban bans Washington Post journalist Susannah George from returning to Afghanistan
New York, April 20, 2023—Taliban authorities must allow Washington Post journalist Susannah George to return to and work from Afghanistan and should stop all attempts to restrict the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. In a statement on Thursday, April 20, Washington Post Executive Editor Sally Buzbee said that George, the paper’s Islamabad-based…
‘Living in fear’: Exiled Afghan journalists face arrest, hunger in Pakistan
Stuck with no income for more than a year after fleeing Afghanistan for Pakistan, Samiullah Jahesh was ready to sell his kidney to put food on the table for his family. “I had no other option, I had no money or food at home,” Jahesh, a former journalist with Afghanistan’s independent Ariana News TV channel,…
Taliban shut down women-run broadcaster Radio Sada e Banowan, seal office
New York, March 31, 2023—Taliban authorities must stop their crackdown on local media in Afghanistan and allow the independent women-run Radio Sada e Banowan broadcaster to continue its work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Thursday, March 30, authorities in the city of Faizabad, in Badakhshan province, shuttered the broadcaster’s operations and sealed…
Journalist Hosein Naderi revealed to have died in bombing at Afghan press event
New York, March 14, 2023–The Taliban must ensure that those responsible for the recent bombing at a press award event that killed journalist Hosein Naderi are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Saturday, March 11, a bomb exploded at a cultural center in Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of northern Balkh province,…
Afghan journalists injured in explosion at press award event
New York, March 11, 2022 – In response to news reports that a number of journalists were wounded in a bomb attack on a press award event in northern Afghanistan on Saturday, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for a swift investigation: “Targeting journalists during an event to honor reporters is…
Taliban bans, restricts media operations in 2 Afghanistan provinces
New York, February 22, 2023 – The Taliban must reverse their recent orders targeting media operations in Helmand and Parwan provinces and allow journalists to work freely and independently, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, February 21, Taliban officials, in a meeting with journalists in the southern province of Helmand, announced a ban…
Taliban raids office of Tamadon TV, assaults staff in Afghanistan
New York, February 15, 2022 – The Taliban must allow Tamadon TV to operate freely and independently and end its campaign of harassment and violence against journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, February 14, about 10 armed Taliban members raided the headquarters of the privately owned broadcaster in Kabul, beat several…