KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Afghanistan Journalists Centre (AFJC) reports that Taliban security forces have detained Mohammad Yar Majrooh, a freelance journalist in southern Kandahar province.
In a statement on Wednesday, July 17, AFJC said that the journalist was detained by the Taliban on Saturday, July 13. The motive behind his arrest remains unclear.
According to the media watchdog, the Taliban court in Kandahar summoned the journalist on Saturday and subsequently jailed him without providing any clarification.
The media watchdog has expressed serious concern over the detention of the freelance journalist, urging the Taliban authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally.
Taliban authorities have yet to comment on the matter.
This marks the second time the Taliban has detained the journalist. He was previously arrested in February of last year while working as a reporter for TOLOnews in Kandahar. He was released after spending a week in Taliban custody in Kandahar.
This incident reflects the latest wave of journalist detentions by the Taliban since their return to power in Afghanistan. Over the past nearly three years, the regime has detained, tortured, and, in some cases, even killed dozens of journalists in the country.
In most cases, the Taliban accuses journalists and media workers of collaborating with exiled media outlets and engaging in espionage for foreign entities and groups that oppose the regime.
According to AFJC, in the past year alone, the Taliban has detained at least 64 journalists and media workers across Afghanistan.
While no journalists were killed in 2023, the media watchdog observes a significant increase in Taliban interference via the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) and the Ministry of Virtue and Vice.
The Taliban’s imposition of media restrictions and pressure on journalists and media workers has led to the closure of more than half of the country’s media outlets, including TV and radio stations.
In a report released in March, the Afghanistan Journalist’s Support Organization (AJSO), a German-based Afghan media watchdog, revealed that since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, only 13 out of 91 print newspapers, 68 out of 248 TV channels, and 211 out of 438 radio stations are still operational in the country.
According to the AJSO report, the remaining outlets either relocated outside the country or closed due to Taliban restrictions or financial challenges.
