The Taliban and the plan to eliminate journalists; systematic suppression of the media continues.
The Taliban have a harsh and inhumane treatment of the media and journalists. Relatives of Mehdi Ansari, a reporter for the Afghan News Agency who has been in Taliban prison for more than a year and a half, say that his physical and mental condition is extremely serious.
After his arrest in Kabul’s Dasht-e-Barchi, Taliban intelligence officers pressured him and forced him to make a forced confession in the form of a video.
According to reports, the Taliban accused Ansari of collaborating with the Afghan media in exile and forced him to make fabricated statements through illegal methods and torture.
This harsh approach by the Taliban against journalists shows that freedom of expression in Afghanistan has been completely suppressed and journalists face serious risks to their lives and health.
The Afghan Journalists Center has announced that about ten journalists are currently imprisoned in Taliban prisons.
This is despite the fact that a Taliban commander recently admitted in an internal meeting that the group had even planned to eliminate all journalists.
Such policies clearly demonstrate the Taliban’s structural hostility to media freedom and independent voices in the country.
