Violent attacks on Afghan journalists by Taliban prompt growing alarm
A spate of violent attacks on Afghan journalists by the Taliban is prompting growing alarm over the freedom of the country’s media, with one senior journalist declaring that “press freedom has ended”.
As images and testimony circulated internationally of the arrest and brutal flogging of two reporters who were detained covering a women’s rights demonstration in Kabul on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists raised concern over the recent string of attacks.
In just two days this week, the Taliban detained and later released at least 14 journalists covering protests in Kabul, with at least six of these journalists subject to violence during their arrests or detention, the CPJ reported.
Other journalists, including some working with the BBC, were also prevented from filming the protest on Wednesday.
The Taliban authorities also briefly detained a Tolonews photojournalist, Wahid Ahmadi, on Tuesday, confiscating his camera and preventing other journalists from filming the protest he was covering.
The renewed threats against the media have coincided with the announcement by the new Taliban interior ministry that it was banning unauthorised protests.
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