Taliban halt national television broadcasts in Balkh.
Afghanistan’s national television broadcasts in Balkh province were halted on the orders of Taliban governor Mohammad Yousuf Wafa.
Local sources say the move was implemented on Tuesday evening (September 9) and was prompted by pressure from the Taliban’s Directorate of Encouraging Good and Forbidding Evil.
Following the decision, more than twenty employees of the media outlet have been forced to stay home and face an uncertain future.
This Taliban move is not limited to Balkh; previously, national television and some private media outlets had been halted in several other provinces due to strict restrictions on broadcasting live footage.
Currently, the Taliban have implemented this ban in more than 17 provinces of the country, effectively severely reducing people’s access to visual media.
This trend shows that the Taliban not only have a fundamental problem with media freedom and public awareness, but their recent actions are evidence of open hostility towards journalists and media institutions.
A few days ago, Mohammad Omar Mukhlis, a former Taliban commander in Paktia and a member of the Haqqani network, openly admitted that he had intended to kill all journalists;
An issue that doubles concerns about the Taliban’s direct threat to the media and the free flow of information in the country.
