Photos: AFJC

Watchdog Calls for Release of Journalists Recently Detained by Taliban

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a U.S.-based media watchdog, has called for the immediate release of journalists Hekmat Aryan and Mahdi Ansary, who were recently detained by the Taliban.

In a press release on Tuesday, October 8, CPJ stated that Afghan journalists are facing unprecedented pressure from the Taliban, who continue to carry out their ruthless crackdown without being held accountable.

“Taliban intelligence must release journalists Mahdi Ansary and Hekmat Aryan immediately and unconditionally,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi.

“The Taliban must end these crimes against journalists once for all,” she added.

The journalist, Mahdi Ansary, a reporter for a local media outlet, was arrested by Taliban intelligence agents in Kabul on Saturday, October 5.

According to local sources, the Taliban detained him over his recent activities on his YouTube channel, where he had been reporting on the killings and atrocities against the Hazara ethnic group.

The Taliban intelligence agency informed the journalist’s family that they had arrested him, but did not provide any further information about his fate or whereabouts.

Similarly, on September 29, Taliban intelligence agents arrested Hekmat Aryan, a journalist and the head of Khoshhal Radio, a private radio station in Ghazni province, for allegedly discussing the Taliban’s past suicide attacks on his radio program.

Since their return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban, despite declaring a “general amnesty,” have arrested, detained, tortured, and, in some cases, killed dozens of activists, journalists, former government officials, and critics of their policies.

Two weeks ago, the regime detained Jawed Kohistani, a prominent political and military analyst, in Kabul. Since then, his fate and whereabouts have remained unknown.

Last week, the international rights group Amnesty International called on the Taliban to release Jawed Kohistani and Hekmat Aryan.

The rights group urged the Taliban to cease the arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances of individuals exercising their right to freedom of expression.