LAGHMAN, Afghanistan — Taliban has shut down Kawoon Ghag, a private radio station in eastern Laghman Province, which has been broadcasting for nearly two decades, according to the Afghanistan Journalists Center.
Taliban claim the radio station in Mehtarlam City is government-owned, the center reported in a statement.
On June 13, Taliban intelligence members entered the radio station’s office and took it off the air, according to a local source quoted by the center. A delegation from the Taliban-run information and culture department accompanied the intelligence members during the closure.
The station’s editor in chief has filed a complaint with the Taliban-run information and culture ministry, but it has not produced any results. The journalists center stated that a Taliban commission, led by the Taliban information and culture minister Khairullah Khairkhwa, will assess the matter this week.
Inqilabi Yusufzai, the editor in chief of Kawoon Ghag, said the radio station was launched in 2005 with funding from Internews. He noted that the station is registered with both the ministry of information and culture and the ministry of telecommunications.
Yusufzai added that since 2016, the Scientific and Cultural Association of Laghman has been the official owner of the media outlet.
Since August 2021, the Taliban have imposed various restrictions on media outlets, access to information, and freedom of expression, with a particular focus on limiting women’s presence in the media.
