Taliban Detain Local Journalist in Ghazni as Media Repression Deepens Across Afghanistan

RASC News Agency: The Taliban’s relentless war on independent journalism in Afghanistan has intensified yet again with the arrest of Suleiman Rahal, editor-in-chief of the local radio station Khoshhal wa Momasel, in Ghazni province. This latest detention adds to the growing list of media professionals targeted by the regime’s intelligence apparatus in its sweeping campaign to extinguish press freedom and silence dissenting voices. According to local sources, Rahal was taken into custody earlier this week by Taliban intelligence operatives. The arrest, confirmed on Thursday, May 8, follows the release of a widely circulated social media video in which Rahal documented the plight of two destitute women a piece that drew both public empathy and, reportedly, the fury of Taliban officials in the province.
Rahal had earned a reputation as one of the few remaining independent voices producing socially conscious and reform-oriented content under the Taliban’s repressive rule. His content, often spotlighting poverty, gender inequality, and local corruption, stood in sharp contrast to the tightly controlled propaganda disseminated by state-run Taliban media outlets. Sources indicate that Rahal’s arrest may also have been fueled by a previous Facebook post in which he criticized a senior Taliban media official for humiliating him publicly. The journalist not only denounced the verbal abuse but also published the official’s photo, an act seen by many as courageous defiance in a climate of fear and repression.
As of now, no formal charges have been announced, nor has Rahal’s location been disclosed. The Taliban’s opaque detention practices and history of torture and extrajudicial actions have prompted widespread fears for Rahal’s wellbeing. This incident is far from isolated. Under Taliban rule, Afghanistan has transformed into one of the most hostile environments for journalists anywhere in the world. In recent months, at least three journalists were reportedly detained and tortured by Taliban intelligence in Takhar province. Numerous others have been threatened, forced into hiding, or compelled to flee the country altogether. Human rights organizations and international media watchdogs have repeatedly sounded the alarm over the Taliban’s systematic dismantling of Afghanistan’s once-vibrant media sector. Independent outlets have been shut down, foreign media are largely banned, and women journalists have been driven out of the public sphere entirely. The result is a climate where fear replaces inquiry, and silence is imposed at gunpoint.
The arrest of Suleiman Rahal is emblematic of a broader strategy by the Taliban to quash any form of independent thought. It represents not merely a violation of press freedom, but a direct assault on the basic principles of human dignity, transparency, and truth. As Afghanistan descends deeper into authoritarian darkness, the voices of journalists like Rahal are not just being silenced they are being criminalized. And with each arrest, the regime sends a chilling message: that under its rule, truth itself is a threat.