Taliban Ask Journalists in Bamyan to Work to Strengthen Their Regime

Source: Bakhtar News Agency

Taliban officials in Bamyan have asked journalists to highlight the regime’s achievements and cooperate with relevant institutions to help strengthen the Taliban regime.

Bakhtar News Agency, a media outlet controlled by the Taliban, reported on Wednesday (15 July) that Hayatullah Muhajir Farahi, the Taliban’s Deputy Minister for Publications at the Ministry of Information and Culture, asked journalists during a training seminar in Bamyan to effectively present the “achievements of the Islamic Emirate” to the public.

He claimed that Afghanistan has made “significant achievements” in the economic, military and political sectors since the Taliban returned to power, and said media outlets should introduce these achievements to the public by selecting appropriate topics.

Taliban officials at the meeting also said that dozens of new media outlets had begun operating since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan and that steps had been taken to address journalists’ concerns and proposals.

Gul Haider Shafaq, the Taliban governor of Bamyan, also asked journalists to cooperate with relevant institutions in implementing Islamic rulings and to work towards the “strengthening of the Islamic system”.

These remarks come as journalists continue to be arrested, media outlets remain under pressure and restrictions on women journalists continue to expand.

The Afghanistan Journalists Center says that between May 2025 and May 2026, at least 150 violations of media freedom, including threats, arrests, violence and censorship, were recorded in Afghanistan.

The organisation has described the situation of independent media as critical and said pressure on media outlets to follow the Taliban’s preferred narrative has increased.

Several journalists also remain in Taliban prisons. According to a list published by the Afghanistan Journalists Center, Shakib Ahmad Nazari, Bashir Hatif, Abuzar Sarsam Sar-e-Puli and Hamid Farhadi are among those still detained by the Taliban.

Shakib Ahmad Nazari, a journalist who worked with Japan’s NTV network, was arrested by Taliban intelligence in Kabul in July 2025. A Taliban military court later sentenced him to three years in prison. His case was linked to reports about girls’ exclusion from education, restrictions on women’s employment and violence against women.

Reporters Without Borders says Afghanistan’s media have come under Taliban control and the country’s media landscape has been stripped of independent and critical voices. The organisation has stressed that the repression of journalists has steadily intensified.