The Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday called on the Taliban to immediately allow Tamadon TV to resume broadcasting, saying the closure of one of Afghanistan’s few remaining independent television stations represents an alarming escalation in the Taliban’s campaign against independent media.
According to CPJ, several armed members of the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice raided the broadcaster’s headquarters in Kabul on Tuesday, insulted employees, forced the station off the air and sealed its offices.
“The closure of Tamadon TV and the degrading treatment of its staff mark an alarming escalation in the Taliban’s assault on Afghanistan’s independent media,” said Waliullah Rahmani, CPJ’s Afghanistan-Pakistan representative.
“Taliban authorities must immediately allow Tamadon TV to resume broadcasting without interference and stop silencing news outlets with force on the pretext of unproven allegations,” he added.
Tamadon TV broadcasts news, current affairs and political programming and is among the few independent television stations still operating in Afghanistan. It is also one of the country’s rare broadcasters that airs Shia religious programming.
The raid took place during Muharram, one of the holiest months in the Shia Muslim calendar, and comes amid concerns over Taliban restrictions on Shia religious activities.
The closure follows years of pressure on the broadcaster.
In June 2025, the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice announced that Tamadon TV would be shut down, alleging that the station was affiliated with Harakat-e-Islami, a political party outlawed by the Taliban, and that it operated on land that authorities claimed had been seized unlawfully. The order, however, was never enforced.
Mohammad Jawad Mohseni, the station’s director, rejected those allegations at the time, saying Tamadon TV was not affiliated with any political party and that the property housing its headquarters had been purchased through a private sale.
Mohseni also said a special court had been reviewing the property’s ownership documents for more than a year but had yet to issue a ruling.
The shutdown comes months after another high-profile intervention by Taliban against a broadcaster linked to Afghanistan’s Shia and Hazara communities.
In February, Taliban intelligence agents took control of Rah-e-Farda TV, a station owned by Mohammad Mohaqiq. The broadcaster resumed operations this month after Taliban approved a new broadcasting license under different ownership, according to local media reports.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed increasing restrictions on Afghanistan’s media sector. Journalists and rights groups say independent outlets face censorship, intimidation, arbitrary detentions and mounting pressure from Taliban.
Media watchdogs estimate that hundreds of media outlets have closed or significantly reduced operations since the Taliban takeover, citing financial hardship, restrictions on reporting and threats against journalists.
CPJ said the latest action against Tamadon TV underscores growing concerns about the future of independent journalism in Afghanistan.
