By Fidel Rahmati in Khaama Press online, April 6, 2023
Three journalists were arrested by the Taliban forces in Baghlan province in Northern Afghanistan, local sources said.
Three journalists, including two reporters from Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) and a journalist for the private TV Tanwir, were arrested from their area in Pule-e-Khumri, the capital city of Baghlan province, on Thursday morning.
Ghulam Ali Wahdat, a journalist for Tanwir TV, Safiullah Wafa and Noor Agha, reporters from RTA network, a state TV, have been arrested.
Although Taliban intelligence is said to have detained these journalists, the reason for their arrest is still unknown.
Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) said in a statement that despite the meetings with de facto authorities, security and intelligence institutions still interfere in the media’s work.
Earlier, the institution said media freedom is deteriorating in the country, and cases of violence and intimidation of journalists increased compared to last year.
According to the AFJC, more than 236 cases of media freedom violations have been documented within the last 12 months, while it was around 117 cases for the previous year, showing a hundred per cent increase in violations, including arrests, intimidation and violent behaviour.
Last month, a deadly attack occurred in the Tebyan Cultural Center during a journalists’ gathering. Three people were killed, including two journalists and more than 30 were injured.
Since the regime change in the country, the media and journalists’ situation has deteriorated. More than one thousand journalists, including female journalists, fled the country, and almost seven thousand lost their jobs.
khaama.com/taliban-arrests-three-afghan-journalists-in-baghlan-province/
