The Taliban intelligence has re-arrested three staff members of Radio Nasim, a local radio station in the central province of Daikundi, sources said on Wednesday.
The arrests took place Wednesday afternoon, August 6, in the city of Nili, the capital of Daikundi. Those detained include Sultan-Ali Jawadi, director of Radio Nasim, and journalists Saifullah Rezai and Mojtaba Qasemi. The Taliban have not commented publicly on the detentions.
Sources said Taliban forces also seized the station’s broadcast computer equipment during the raid.
Jawadi had previously been arrested in October 2023 and sentenced to one year in prison on charges of “propaganda” against the Taliban. He was released in March after serving six months. Radio Nasim was shuttered by Taliban authorities in mid-2023 but resumed operations five months later.
The detentions come amid a broader crackdown on media in Afghanistan. Rights groups and local journalists say a joint unit made up of Taliban intelligence and the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has carried out several arrests of media workers in recent weeks.
More than 500 incidents of arrests, threats and violence against journalists have been recorded since the Taliban seized power in August 2021. Press freedom advocates say Afghanistan has dropped sharply in international rankings, with Taliban security agencies playing a central role in suppressing independent media.
