Imran Danish, a news anchor and head of the political desk at TOLOnews, was detained on May 5, 2026, and held for more than seven weeks before his release on June 24, the journalist told CPJ.
Taliban authorities detained Danish near TOLOnews’ office in the Afghan capital city, Kabul, on the same day they arrested Mansoor Niazi, a presenter at the network.
On May 10, shortly after TOLOnews reported the detentions on social media, dozens of Taliban intelligence officers raided the office of the broadcaster’s parent company Moby Group. Armed officers confiscated employees’ phones, questioned staff for several hours, and placed staff under surveillance.
Khabib Ghufran, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture, confirmed on May 12 that Danish had been detained but did not provide information about his charges.
Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban have decimated Afghanistan’s independent media sector and supplanted it with their own propaganda empire. Taliban authorities have arrested journalists reporting for exiled media and forced hundreds to flee to neighboring countries.
Taliban Deputy Spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat did not reply to CPJ’s text messages requesting comment.