KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban authorities have detained Mohammad Asif Faizyar, head of a media outlet, in the western Herat province earlier this month, local sources said.
Nedai Baloch, the media outlet Faizyar led, confirmed the news in a post on Telegram, saying the outlet was forced to shut down due to the detention.
The reason behind Faizyar’s arrest is unknown, but the Afghanistan Journalists Federation in exile said in a separate statement that he was arrested for not complying with the Taliban’s media rules.
Taliban’s provincial authorities have not yet commented on the matter.
The Federation has called for the immediate and unconditional release of Faizyar.
Since seizing power on August 15, 2021, the Taliban have waged a relentless campaign of crackdowns on media outlets and journalists.
During the last three years, almost half of Afghanistan’s once vibrant media have been either forced to cease operations or move their offices abroad as a result of the regime’s strict restrictions and continued pressure.
The Taliban have since issued at least 14 directives concerning the media, involving a range of aspects, such as barring women from working on national TV, limiting the coverage of demonstrations and civil protests, and imposing guidelines on news preparation and content.
Faced with relentless harassment, many journalists have had to leave their jobs or even flee the country. A survey by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) stated that of the 547 media outlets operating in the country in early 2021, over 50% of them have closed down and many international news broadcasts have been banned. RSF also reported that more than 80% of female journalists in Afghanistan have been forced to leave their jobs.
Statistics from the Afghanistan Independent Journalist Union (AIJU) show that since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, at least 19 journalists and media workers have been killed, 21 injured, 91 arrested, 38 assaulted, and 48 harassed.
