RASC News Agency: Following intensified restrictions on publishing images of “living beings,” the Taliban have now extended their ban on filming and photography to journalists in Nangarhar. Sources from Nangarhar report that on Saturday, November 9, Mullah Naeem Akhund, the Taliban-appointed governor of the province, imposed the ban on all photography activities.
Local journalists confirmed the restriction, revealing that they were explicitly instructed by Taliban officials during a recent meeting at the provincial governor’s office to cease all filming. Witnesses state that the governor not only requested that journalists refrain from taking photos but also ordered his guards to escort them out of the meeting if they did not comply.
The Taliban have previously enforced similar restrictions across other provinces, including Kandahar, Takhar, Daikundi, Badghis, Badakhshan, and numerous others, severely limiting journalists’ ability to document public events through photography or videography. These restrictions have also permeated university campuses, where photography is now explicitly forbidden in institutions such as Parwan University, Ghor University, and Sheikh Zayed University.
According to Taliban directives, these limitations are rooted in their interpretation of “Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” guidelines, which prohibit drawing, photographing, and broadcasting images or videos of living beings, considering such practices as unlawful. Zia-ul-Haq Haqmal, the Taliban’s Deputy Minister of Publications at the Ministry of Information and Culture, recently commented on the matter, asserting that Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada endorses these restrictions as “scientifically and religiously justified.”
