RASC News Agency: Local sources report that Najib Faryad, a journalist for the private television network Ariana News, was assaulted by Taliban members on the morning of Thursday, January 10, in Mazar-i-Sharif. Faryad, a resident reporter in Balkh province, was en route to cover the inauguration of an oil refinery when the attack occurred. Details regarding the motive behind the assault and the identities of the attackers remain unclear. However, eyewitness accounts confirm that Taliban members were responsible for the violent act. This incident is yet another indication of the Taliban’s growing crackdown on journalists and media professionals across Afghanistan.
On January 9, the Afghanistan Journalists’ Protection Organization disclosed that the Taliban had sentenced Mahdi Ansari, a journalist affiliated with a local news agency, to one and a half years in prison. Over the past three years, the Taliban have systematically targeted journalists and media outlets, closing numerous organizations and silencing voices critical of their regime. Under Taliban rule, the press faces unprecedented repression. The group’s vision for society is one that is closed, unjust, and intolerant of dissent. Journalists are deemed acceptable only if their work serves the Taliban’s authoritarian, ethnocentric, and sectarian narrative. Any attempt at independent reporting is swiftly and harshly suppressed.
Since their return to power, the Taliban have shut down dozens of media outlets, imprisoned hundreds of journalists, and issued relentless threats against members of the press. The assault on Najib Faryad highlights the dire state of press freedom in Afghanistan, as the Taliban continues its efforts to dismantle independent journalism and stifle all forms of critical reporting.
