The Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said it has arrested the head of several media organizations, accusing him of ties to foreign intelligence agencies and of “moral corruption.”
The groups named by the ministry include the Afghanistan Media Center, Tawana News Agency and the Afghan Women Journalists’ Association, which officials described as “foreign spy centers.” The ministry released a video showing the director, Abu Zar Sarpol, apparently confessing to the charges, though it was unclear under what circumstances the statement was made.
Media analysts said the accusations reflect the Taliban’s hard-line views on the press and on mixed-gender workplaces. They noted that many Afghan outlets, cut off from international funding, have depended on foreign organizations to survive — a reliance the Taliban have increasingly used to restrict or shut down operations.
Taliban authorities have detained several other journalists in recent weeks. Rights monitors say a joint unit of Taliban intelligence and virtue police carried out many of the arrests as part of what critics call a wider campaign to intimidate the media.
Journalists’ associations condemned the detentions. “They are trying to shut down the press through intimidation,” said Mustafa Shahriyar, a Kabul reporter.
The United Nations has documented widespread abuses against Afghan media workers since the Taliban seized power in 2021. A U.N. mission report said that between August 2021 and September 2023, there were 336 violations against journalists, including 256 arbitrary arrests, 130 instances of torture or ill-treatment, and 75 cases of threats or intimidation. The Taliban have denied those findings.
