KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban intelligence has detained two journalists in the northern province of Takhar, local sources said on Wednesday.
The two reporters, Asadullah Timur and Sayed Munir Hadaf, were affiliated with Tasweer, a local weekly publication. They were reportedly arrested on Wednesday, May 8, by Taliban intelligence agents in the provincial capital.
The reasons for their detention remain unclear, and the Taliban have not publicly acknowledged the arrests.
Since reclaiming power in 2021, the Taliban have been accused of widespread human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and systematic repression of the press. Journalists, former security personnel and rights activists have been among those targeted, according to human rights monitors and local sources.
The detentions come shortly after the Taliban issued new restrictions banning the publication of images of living beings across 17 provinces — a directive that media organizations and observers have called vague and repressive.
The arrests are the latest in a series of actions that have heightened fears for the safety of journalists and freedom of expression under Taliban rule.
