KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Committee to Protect Journalists(CPJ) says that after TOLOnews announced that the Taliban had arrested its journalists Mansour Niazi and Imran Danish, “dozens of Taliban intelligence officers” raided the office of Moby Group, the parent company of the media outlet.
The organization said in a statement on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, that Taliban armed forces “confiscated employees’ phones, interrogated staff members for several hours, and placed them under surveillance.”
“The Taliban’s detention of Mansoor Niazi and Imran Danish, followed by a sweeping raid on a major independent media organization, underscores the climate of fear facing journalists in Afghanistan,” said CPJ Asia-Pacific Program Coordinator Kunal Majumder. “Taliban authorities must immediately and unconditionally release the detained journalists and ensure the press can operate without interference.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists also wrote that it has been reported that Taliban intelligence officers, after arresting Mansour Niazi, took control of his social media accounts and published messages suggesting that he was at home, an action that has increased concerns about pressure and coercion.
The committee further added that Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesperson of the Taliban, did not respond to its text messages requesting comment on the arrests.
The journalists — Mansoor Niazi and Imran Danish, reporters for TOLOnews, and Jawed Niazi, editor of the local Paigard News Agency — were detained in separate incidents in Kabul in recent days, according to the Afghanistan Journalist Center (AFJC). Their whereabouts remain unknown, and Taliban authorities have not commented on the arrests or provided any explanation for their detention.
AFJC said the arrests were carried out by members of the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), which has been accused by press freedom groups of targeting journalists over their reporting and media activity.
The watchdog earlier condemned the arrests, calling them an attack on press freedom and demanding the immediate and unconditional release of the detained journalists. According to AFJC figures, at least seven journalists are currently detained or serving prison sentences in Afghanistan, highlighting what it described as an expanding crackdown on independent media.
The media environment in Afghanistan has deteriorated significantly since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. Journalists report facing arrests, censorship, interrogations, and pressure linked to their reporting, online activity, or alleged associations with exiled Afghan media outlets.
The AFJC has documented at least 150 violations of press freedom and incidents of violence against journalists since May 2025, including 127 threats and 20 arrests. Reporters Without Borders ranked Afghanistan 175th out of 180 countries in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index, placing it among the worst countries globally for media freedom.
These recent arrests and raids have further deepened concerns about press freedom in Afghanistan, where journalists continue to face increasing restrictions, intimidation, and lack of transparency. International organizations are once again calling for the protection of media workers and the immediate release of all detained journalists.
