Taliban restricts Afghan journalists from covering security incidents

Afghan journalists have claimed that the Taliban-led government has imposed restrictions on them from covering security incidents in the country.

Jawad Etimad, a journalist who works for an online media outlet, said he was arrested while covering a blast in Kabul city and spent two days in custody.

"They (Taliban) prevented me from making footage. They kicked and punched me, and then they arrested me," TOLO News quoted Etimad as saying.

Another journalist, Farogh Faiz said that whenever there is a security incident in an area, they go to cover it.

"But, unfortunately we are not being allowed cover the incidents," he said.

Meanwhile, the Afghanistan National Journalists Union said restrictions on access to information is not acceptable.

"The media has the right to make footage. Whenever there are restrictions on access to information, it is a violation of the law of access to information," Masroor Lutfi, head of the media watchdog, was quoted as saying by TOLO News.

According to the Reporters Without Borders, at least 50 media workers were arrested since the Taliban took over the country in August last year until February 2022.

In a report earlier this year, Human Rights Watch said that an estimated 80 per cent of women journalists across Afghanistan have lost their jobs or left the profession sinceAugust 2021, and hundreds of media outlets have closed.

--IANS

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