International Federation of Journalists: Taliban Detained Seven Journalists in the Past Month

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The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has announced in a new report that the Taliban detained at least seven journalists and media workers in Afghanistan during the month of July alone.

On Tuesday (August 5), the organization expressed concern over the increasing suppression of the media and warned that press freedom in Afghanistan has reached its lowest level in the country's modern history, as the Taliban have intensified pressure on journalists and severely restricted independent media outlets.

The International Federation of Journalists has called on the Taliban to immediately release all imprisoned journalists and to end arbitrary arrests.

According to the report, on July 24, the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice detained three employees of Tawana News Agency named Abu Zar Sar-e-Puli, Bashir Hatif, and Shakib Ahmad Nazari. The federation stated that these individuals were accused of receiving projects from international organizations in support of women and publishing content critical of the Taliban.

The report adds that the Taliban released a video of Sar-e-Puli’s “forced confession,” accusing him of “espionage” and “moral corruption.” However, the fate of the three remains unclear.

The organization also stated that Ahmad Naweed Askari, director of the Pixel media company, and his deputy, Mushtaq Ahmad Halimi, were arrested on July 15 in Kabul. The Taliban accused the two of dubbing a “non-Islamic” series for foreign media outlets and confiscated the company’s equipment. After two weeks in detention and forced confessions, the two were released on July 30.

Additionally, on July 21, a media worker in Kabul was arrested on charges of collaborating with exiled media outlets, and on July 6, a local journalist was released after two days of detention and signing a pledge.

The International Federation of Journalists stated that since the beginning of 2024, it has recorded 48 cases of violations against journalists in Afghanistan, 28 of which involved arrests.