Taliban restrict Afghan journalists from covering security incidents in country
Highlights
- Afghan journalists have alleged Taliban has placed restrictions on them
- Journalists are not being allowed to cover security incidents in the country
- A journalist said he was made to two days in custody for covering an explosion in Kabul
Journalists in Afghanistan have claimed the Taliban-led government has imposed restrictions on them from covering security incidents within the country. A journalist even said he was arrested while covering a blast in Kabul city and spent two days in custody.
"They (Taliban) prevented me from making footage. They kicked and punched me, and then they arrested me," TOLO News quoted their journalist Jawad Etimad as saying.
Another journalist, Farogh Faiz said that whenever there is a security incident in an area, they go to cover it.
"But, unfortunately we are not being allowed cover the incidents," he said.
Meanwhile, the Afghanistan National Journalists Union said restrictions on access to information is not acceptable.
"The media has the right to make footage. Whenever there are restrictions on access to information, it is a violation of the law of access to information," Masroor Lutfi, head of the media watchdog, was quoted as saying by TOLO News.
According to the Reporters Without Borders, at least 50 media workers were arrested since the Taliban took over the country in August last year until February 2022.
In a report earlier this year, Human Rights Watch said that an estimated 80 per cent of women journalists across Afghanistan have lost their jobs or left the profession since august 2021, and hundreds of media outlets have closed.
(With inputs from IANS)
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