Afghanistan: Taliban arrest at least seven journalists in July

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 5 August 2025 |  IFJ Media Release

In July, the Taliban arrested multiple journalists in Afghanistan, prompting international concern over press freedom. The International Federation of Journalists and the Afghan Independent Journalists Union are calling for their immediate release.

Summary

KABUL—Afghan journalists continued to endure ongoing harassment and intimidation from the Taliban in July, with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) monitoring the detainment of at least seven media workers during the month. The IFJ joins its affiliate, the Afghan Independent Journalists Union (AIJU), in calling for the immediate release of all jailed journalists and urges the Taliban to cease the arbitrary detention of media workers.

Editor in chief of Tawana News Agency and head of the Afghanistan Media Institute, Abuzar Sarempuli, was arrested on July 24 by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, alongside two Tawana employees, Basheer Hatef and Shakeeb Ahmad Nazari.

Taliban authorities alleged Sarempuli received funds from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), UNESCO, and the Iranian government to promote women’s employment and publish reports critical of the Taliban. The editor was charged with ‘moral corruption’ and ‘espionage’, and appeared to have been forced into a confession under duress, which was later filmed and publicly released. The status of all three journalists remains unknown.

This incident follows the July 15 arrest of Pixel Media Content Company’s director and deputy director in Kabul, Ahmad Nawid Asghari and Mushtaq Ahmad Halimi. Taliban authorities reportedly seized the company’s equipment during a raid, alleging the pair had dubbed an ‘un-Islamic’ television series for foreign media outlets. Both men were forced into a confession on July 28, before being released after two weeks in custody on July 30.

In another separate case, an unidentified media worker was detained in Kabul on July 21, accused of providing technical support to exiled Afghan news outlets. On July 6, a provincial journalist was arrested for reporting deemed inconsistent with Taliban-approved narratives, before being released after two days in custody following a pledge of adherence to the Taliban media directives.

Amid the latest crackdown on Afghan media, three journalists were released from custody. Islam Totakhil and Ahmad Zia Amanyar, from the jointly operated Radio Jawanan and Radio Begum, were released on July 30 after being detained since January 2025, when the Taliban shuttered both stations. The pair had been accused of sharing content on social media related to Afghanistan’s women’s cricket team. Radio Khoshhal editor-in-chief, Solaiman Rahil, was released a day later, on July 31, after completing a three-month sentence. Rahil was arrested on May 5 after posting a video on Facebook highlighting the struggles of two impoverished women and had publicly criticised a senior Taliban media official.

The IFJ’s South Asia Press Freedom Report 2024-25 documented 48 media rights violations, including 28 arrests, between May 1, 2024, and April 30, 2025, noting that “Afghanistan’s press freedom is currently at one of the lowest points in its modern history”. The 2024 World Press Freedom Index ranked Afghanistan 178 out of the 180 countries surveyed, marking a fall of 44 places from the previous year and ranking the country worse than North Korea and Iran.

The AIJU said: “AIJU welcomes the release of five journalists and media workers over the past week and considers it a positive sign in support of media freedom. However, the union remains concerned about the continued detention of several other individuals. AIJU respectfully calls on the authorities of the Islamic Emirate to demonstrate goodwill by facilitating the release of the remaining detainees, many of whom have been in custody for an extended period.”

The IFJ said: “The Taliban’s escalating crackdown on media workers underscores the ongoing disregard for press freedom and freedom of expression. The continued jailing of journalists, draconian media directives, and shuttering of independent outlets have decimated Afghanistan’s media landscape, with those journalists continuing to report facing intimidation, harassment, detention, and violence. The IFJ urges the Taliban to swiftly release all detained journalists and cease its persecution of independent and critical media.”

Photo: Journalist Shakeeb Ahmad Nazari was among those detained. -Credit AIJU