In Afghanistan, Taliban seizes control of over 150 media outlets after August 15 takeover

As the United States left war-torn Afghanistan on August 31, at least 153 media outlets have stopped their activities in 20 provinces, reported TOLO News citing local media reports. According to the Afghanistan-based media outlet, these organisations either have to shut or be forced to cut their staff due to economic problems. Apart from the economic crisis, Afghan media outlets reportedly suffer restrictions imposed by the Talibani organisation. According to officials, if the media's financial crisis would not be solved and restrictions against them were not addressed, more outlets were likely to cease operating in the country.

"If the organisations supporting media do not pay attention to media outlets, soon we will witness the closing of the remaining outlets in the country," Tolo News quoted Hujatullah Mujadadi, the deputy head of the Afghanistan Federation of Journalists as saying.

"The continuation of this trend has created concerns. We urge international organisations to take immediate action to address this problem. Otherwise, soon it will be the end of press freedom and other human and civil liberties," Tolo News quoted Masroor Lutfi, representative of the Afghanistan National Journalists' Union as saying.

It is worth noting that the extremist group had detained Taqi Daryabi and Nematullah Naqdi, a video editor and a video reporter with the daily newspaper Etilaatroz, following their coverage of ongoing protests in Kabul last week. According to the reports, the two journalists were taken to a local police station and thrashed brutally. A picture of the journalists also went viral on social media platforms in which the lower back, upper legs, and face were marked by red lesions by the terror group.

Earlier on September 3, addressing the concern of the scribes still reporting from the Taliban-captured country, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) urged the SAARC national governments and international communities to provide a safe haven to Afghan journalists seeking help. According to the statement released by the international scribe federation, the situation for media workers on the ground was 'extremely challenging'.

Despite Taliban's assurance, the ground situation tells a different story

The organisation underlined that the Taliban, despite assurances, had failed to respect women’s rights and free media. Despite numerous promises made by the Taliban to safeguard media workers, those working on the ground experience other stories that stressed the IFJ.  A 29-year-old journalist whose nine close relatives managed to board one of the evacuation flights, said in a conversation with the Associated Press (AP) on August 28, “There is a feeling of desperation in Afghanistan. Imagine if you had made a building for 20 years now, that building is getting destroyed and you cannot go out from that building. It feels very bad. Our education, our hopes for ourselves, for our children, for our future, for our country is all destroyed. People are calling me saying that there’s no salary by the government or by the Taliban now. And banks are closed and they cannot afford their families’ evacuation.”

(With inputs from ANI/AP)

(Image: AP)