The latest: The Taliban intelligence directorate officials arrested Qudratullah Noori, a local journalist, from an area near his house in Jabal al-Saraj district of Parwan province on Tuesday.
Go deeper:
- According to relatives of this journalist, the Taliban members transferred him to an unknown location.
- The family members of Qudratullah Noori have no information about his condition. They do not know the reason behind this journalist’s arrest.
- Local officials of the Taliban in Parwan province have not commented about this issue so far.
- Qudratullah Noori had worked as a reporter in local media outlets of Parwan province since the past seven years.
Back story: Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, this group arrested and imprisoned dozens of journalists.
- Earlier, Mortaza Behboudi, a Franco-Afghan journalist unduly detained in Kabul. Tolo News TV journalist Mohammad Yaar Majroh was released on February 19 after being held for six days but at least two other Afghan journalists continue to be held, in addition to Mortaza Behboudi. They are Qotratullah Tarar, arrested on November 11, and Khairullah Parhar, arrested on January 9, as per Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
- Just on Monday, Mullah Ahmad Shah Deendost, the Taliban’s governor of Ghor province, instructed media professionals and journalists in the province that their work must be in accordance with “Islamic Sharia”.
- The Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on local media outlets, especially recently in southern Helmand and northern Parwan provinces. On February 21, the Taliban issued a ban on video filming and photography after the group’s provincial governor, Abdul Ahad Talib, and the provincial directorate of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice deemed video and photography forbidden in Islam.
- Then, in mid-February, the Taliban provincial authorities in northern Parwan province have ordered local journalists to report on the province’s news and current affairs based on Bakhtar News Agency’s reports. In Takhar too, Mohibullah Nikzad, the Taliban’s radio and television officer in the province, has warned local journalists in the province that they will be suppressed if they do not report in favor of the group.
Zoom out: Due to severe restrictions imposed by the Taliban, Afghan local media outlets have been facing dark times over the past year. The journalist’s access to information has been extremely limited and the Taliban’s control on media has been growing everyday passing.
- There has been increasing restrictions and persecution facing Afghan journalists and media workers, as the country’s media industry experiences a prolonged financial collapse. Acts of violence and harassment against the media from IS militants and members of the Taliban have been frequently documented.
